


White Out

by PrincessJaybird



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: AU hopping, Action/Adventure, Alternate Universe, Angst, Bad Jokes, Broken Bones, Funny, Gen, Humor, Hurt/Comfort, I'll add more tags later, Illustrations, Kidnapping, Mind Control, Mood Swings, Pain, Pretty much a giant easter egg hunt, Theft, destruction of property, emotion vials, some violence
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-07-18
Updated: 2019-11-02
Packaged: 2020-07-07 17:20:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 9
Words: 42,303
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19856047
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PrincessJaybird/pseuds/PrincessJaybird
Summary: Ink Sans has lost his color vials. Without them, he will slowly start to lose all his emotions, leaving him lifeless and blank once again. With the protector of the AUs disabled, there would be no one left to protect the multiverse. Who knows what could happen then. He needs to get his vials back, and quickly. He recruits some old friends of his to help him hunt down his vials and protect the AUs from further harm.(On hold untill further notice)





	1. White Out Cover Page

**Author's Note:**

> I may go back to this chapter to revise and rewrite a couple of things, so keep an eye out. If you have any questions about my story, don't be afraid to ask and I'll do my best to answer them. Thank you for reading and I hope you like it. I hope you like the illustrations too!
> 
> Edit: I just saw that Ink's design recently changed, but for the sake of the story I'm going to continue writing him with his original design for now.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I took some artistic liberty when writing this story, but I think that I still stayed true to Ink's original character. 
> 
> Check out this site for the original depiction of Ink!Sans:  
> https://comyet.tumblr.com/post/132998265968/i-n-k-t-a-l-e
> 
> Comments and questions are always welcomed and I hope you like the story.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ink belongs to @comyet  
> Art by me: https://www.deviantart.com/princess-jaybird


	2. It Fell From The Sky

“hey kiddo, hurry up. if we’re late today undyne’s going tibia real mad. at me specifically.”

Frisk was hunched over the street gutter, watching the small leaves and sticks she threw in float down the tiny river and down the street. It had rained earlier that morning, and the pavement was still wet, but now the sun was shining brightly on the Surface. School had just ended for Frisk, and she was now walking home with her favorite skeletons.

Papyrus, the tall skeleton wearing an orange shirt and his favorite red scarf, glared down at his older brother with a face that Frisk thought was hilarious. She stifled a giggle as the skeleton’s eyes grew wide.

“SANS! NO PUNS!”

Sans was smaller than his brother and only a little bit taller than Frisk herself, which wasn't saying much since she was only ten years old. He was wearing his favorite hoodie again, like he did yesterday, and the day before that, and the day before that. It looked pretty gross. There were several mysterious stains that were dulled out by the dark blue of the jacket, but Sans didn’t seem to mind it too much.

“hey paps,” Sans smiled showing all of his teeth, “don’t be such a sternum.”

“SANS!”

“aw come on bro, i’m just ribbing with ya.”

Papyrus grumbled, “CAN YOU NOT GO ONE DAY WITHOUT SAYING A HORRIBLE PUN?”

“maybe, but i’m a pretty humorous skeleton.”

“OF COURSE.”

Frisk’s suppressed giggles soon turned to roaring laughter. Not solely for the actual puns, but mostly for Papyrus’ funny reaction to the terrible jokes.

Sans turned back to Frisk and smiled. He reached out his bony hand, gesturing for Frisk to come to him. She rose from her crouched position and ran to grab it. She then reached out with her other hand to take the gloved hand of Papyrus. She was now in the middle of the two skeletons, swinging the hands in unison like she was on a swing.

The small group made their way through the main street of Ebbot City. They had just stopped by the mall to pick up some balloons and streamers for Toriel and Asgore’s third anniversary of the day they got remarried. Undyne and Alphys had planned a surprise party at the two boss monsters’ house for the occasion. Alphys was in charge of making sure the happy couple were preoccupied while Undyne cooked dinner and the skelebros decorated the house.

Frisk made her parents a small present in her art class at school. It wasn’t much, but she put a lot of love into it and she was proud of the end result. It was all wrapped up and in her backpack now, bumping around with her other school supplies. She was really excited to give it to them.

“What did you get mom and dad?” she asked the two skeletons and they walked down the crowded sidewalk.

“WELL, AFTER WEEKS OF THOROUGH RESEARCH ON BOTH THE QUEEN AND HE KING. I DEVISED THAT THE BEST GIFT FOR THEM WOULD BE A FLOWER POT AND A PACKET OF SEEDS SO THEY CAN GROW THE FLOWERS THEMSELVES. SYMBOLIC TO HOW THEY HAVE GROWN THEIR RELATIONSHIP TOGETHER SINCE THEIR WEDDING.”

“That’s so cool Papyrus, they’ll love it.”

“OF COURSE THEY WILL. GIFT GIVING IS ANOTHER THING THE GREAT PAPYRUS IS AMAZING AT.”

Frisk smiled brightly then turned to Sans, “What did you get them?”

“i got them a joke book.”

“REALLY SANS. HOW LONG DID IT TAKE YOU TO PLAN THAT GIFT.”

“only one night. it came to me in a dream.”

Frisk’s light and cheerful giggle drifted throughout the city. Since she had broken the barrier four years ago, her life had been changed for the better. After Toriel and Asgore got remarried they finally adopted her as her legal child, Alphys found a job as a scientific engineer, Undyne became the deputy of the Ebbot City Police Department, Papyrus went to culinary school and will have earned his degree by the end of the month, and Sans . . . hadn’t changed much, but Frisk could see that he was much happier now. He had more of a lightness in his step and his smile seemed more genuine nowadays. Now that he didn’t have to worry about resets and Genocide runs anymore, he had no reason to put on an act. Frisk had promised that she would never start over again, and so far she had kept it.

She loved her family, she loved her life, and she was really looking forward to spending some time with them today.

Nothing could ruin this day for her.

Suddenly, A loud BOOM shattered the sky, like a jet plane breaking the sound barrier. It vibrated inside Frisk’s ribcage and jostled her soul slightly. The bustling sidewalk suddenly became still as everyone looked up to see what had caused the unexpected bang.

When Frisk looked up, she was shocked and amazed to see a colorful ball of light in the sky.

Everyone gasped and marveled at the brilliant light show. It glimmered with several different colors like red, yellow, blue, and everything in between as is lit up the air around them. Some people took out their phones to take pictures and videos of it.

Frisk excitedly tugged at Sans’ sleeve and pointed to the strange light, but Sans was already looking at it. His eyes were squinted in an observative way.

“WOWIE! WHAT IS THAT?”

“i . . . i don't know.”

“Maybe it’s a shooting star.” Frisk chimed it, her eyes bright with elation.

“in the middle of the day?” Sans chuckled and smiled down at Frisk and rustled up her hair, “never heard of a shooting star like that.”

As everyone was preoccupied by natural light show in the sky, Papyrus lifted his hand up to his forehead so that his eyes could be better shield from the brilliant light. He squinted his eyes to try and get a better look at the mysterious meteor. 

“HEY, SANS?”

“yeah bro?”

“IS IT JUST ME, OR DOES IT APPEAR THAT THE SHOOTING STAR IS GETTING BIGGER?”

“well paps, that’s usually how distance works.” Sans chuckled lightly, “the bigger something becomes, the closer . . . it . . .”

Sans’ eye sockets went dark and his head snapped up at the ball of light that was quickly falling in the same direction as their small group.

“oh, crap!” Sans shouted out into the mystified crowed, “everyone get out of the way! it’s comin’ in for a crash landin’”

Then chaos suddenly exploded on the streets as the citizens realized that they were in danger. Mothers grabbed their children and people scattered every which way to find shelter indoors.

Frisk almost lost the two skeletons in the pandemonium, but then Sans grabbed onto her and Papyrus’ hand. Frisk felt the skeleton’s magic flow through her body as he summoned it from his soul.

For a split second, everything went dark. There was no light, no sound, and the darkness was thick and suffocating. Stars danced before Frisk’s eyes as they tried to find any source of light. Luckily, just as soon as it came, the darkness was banished and Frisk could see again.

She fell onto the hard concrete as they came out of the void, scraping the palms of her hands in the process. Teleportation was always a befuddling experience for her, no matter how many times she did it. Papyrus also seemed a bit out of balanced, but he did a better job at staying upright than she did.

Sans let go of both their hands and rushed over to a raised ledge that was new to Frisk. She looked around to see that they were now in the middle of a rooftop garden. Little plots of land were neatly organized into rows and gardening tools scattered across the ground.

“SANS! WHAT’S GOING ON? WHERE ARE WE?”

“on a roof. same street.” he replied distractedly,

“AND WHY ARE WE ON A ROOF? AREN'T WE IN JUST AS MUCH DANGER UP HERE?”

“no, the star is gonna hit the streets. plus, this was the first place i could think of.”

“WELL, WHY DIDN’T YOU JUST TAKE US TO LADY TORIEL’S HOUSE, OR MAYBE-”

“i wanna see somethin’”

He stared intently up at the sky. His eyes were scrunched up thoughtfully as the light got closer to the city. It was getting hotter too. The star started to irritate Frisk’s skin. Soon the whole street was illuminated by a harsh, white light. Papyrus fell down onto his knees and wrapped his arms around Frisk protectively, hoping to shield her from the worst of the heat. As the star crashed down onto the road, Frisk heard a harsh crumbling sound that she could only guess was the star tearing through the solid asphalt.

After a few moments, the light diminished and Frisk dared to peak her eyes open. When she did, she noticed that a thin layer of dirt floating in the air and the smell of burning rubber filled her nostrils. Papyrus was still over her in like a protective barrier of the past danger. He stood up from the ground, still holding on to the human as he did this.

Brushing off her daze, a million tiny details instantly flooded her mind as her brain processed the new information.

Then, Frisk remembered something.

She looked over to where she last saw Sans standing,

But he wasn’t there.

“Sans!” she cried out.

Her shout caught Papyrus’ attention, and he briskly rushed over to the edge of the building, Frisk still being carried in his arms. He leaned over the edge anxiously. Frisk gave a short prayer that Sans hadn’t fallen off the building, then she too looked down at the street.

The streets of Downtown Ebbot City were now in ruins. The star had crashed into the road, just like Sans said it would. The burning rubber she smelled came from the abandoned cars whose tires had melted. Buildings near the impact zone were slightly scorched and the windows were grey from the disturbed debris. But the only thing she cared about was the enormous fissure in the center of the street that reminded Frisk of the Grand Canyon. And down inside the fissure, she saw a figure wearing a distinct blue jacket.

“There he is!” She pointed out to Papyrus.

Seeing his brother below, Papyrus hopped down to the fire escape and tore down the steps like a ninja. All while keeping a tight hold of the human Frisk.

When the two of them finally reached the ground, people were starting to tentatively emerge from their shelters. They weren't quite sure what to do. Frisk could hear a couple of people calling the police on their cell phones, which she thought was a good thing. Who knows who could have gotten hurt because of the fallen star.

Frisk spotted the tip of Sans’ skull once again, and so did Papyrus. He ran over onto the road and up to the edge of the crack. While they ran, Frisk noticed the wreckage and debris that the star had caused: pieces of buildings were torn off, cars had their windows shattered, she even saw the stick half of a broken broom not far away from the fissure. When Frisk and Papyrus looked down the hole, they spotted Sans at the bottom clearing away huge handfuls of dirt.

“SANS!” Papyrus called down to his brother.

The smaller one looked up in response to hearing his name, "h-hey bro."

Papyrus sighed, “WHILE I ADMIRE THE FACT THAT YOU ARE GETTING YOUR HANDS DIRTY FOR ONCE, I AM AFRAID TO SAY THAT THIS MIGHT NOT BE THE BEST TIME FOR IT.”

Sans’ breaths were deep and shallow. He wasn’t used to manual labor so much, but there was something else. Frisk could see it in the skeleton’s hollow, empty eye sockets.

Frustration.

Disbelief.

Concern.

“Sans, what’s wrong?” she asked,

For a moment, Sans didn’t move at all. Then, he turned his back on his brother and friend and knelt down in the dirt. Preparing his body to pick someone up.

Frisk didn’t notice them at first, because they were covered in dirt, but he was not alone in that crack in the road.

With a grunt, he lifted a dirt-covered body up off the ground and turned back to the others above him to show them what he found.

Papyrus gasped.

Frisk stared in shock.

In Sans’ arms was an unconscious skeleton. This other skeleton wore a brown shirt and pants with teal stripes on the sleeves and a long brown scarf. He also wore a light blue jacket around his waist and the loudest tiger shoes Frisk had ever seen.

The other skeleton looked like he was in a lot of pain. His faces was scrunched up even in his senseless state and he had scratches all over him. There was also a dark, sticky liquid dripping out from a large cut in the center of his sternum. For a moment, Frisk thought he was dead, but then the shallow and shaky rise and fall of his chest soon eased her worry.

But his sense of style and his injuries weren't the weirdest part about him.

The weirdest part was that he looked just.

Like.

Sans. 

Who was he?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ink belongs to @comyet  
> Art is by me: https://www.deviantart.com/princess-jaybird


	3. Let's Go Back a Bit

_Not too long in the past_

Floating on his giant paintbrush, Broomy, in the Doodlesphere while drawing random sketches in his sketchbook. It was one of Ink’s favorite pastimes. 

His own little world was lit up with a soft yellow glow, and it was very calming. Pieces of paper held up by golden string surrounded him as he drifted carelessly in the air. Ink never really knew where these papers were hung. The ceiling seemed to go on forever, and there was no end in sight that he could see.

These seemingly insignificant papers were actually a world of their very own. A story made by a creator, and it was Ink’s honor and privilege to guard and protect each and every one of them. He took his role as guardian of the multiverse very seriously.

After all, he was in a symbiotic relationship with them.

Ink suddenly noticed that something felt . . . off about him mood. He lifted his pencil up from his page and tapped it on his chin, trying to guess what it could be. He closed his sketchbook, tied his pencil to the end of his work belt, then reached into his scarf. He felt around for a moment until he had a hold on the warm, smooth metal of a heart shaped pendant. Pulling it out, he inspected the small charm on a chain and the colors in it. His pendant was as colorful as the rainbow, ranging from pink all the way down to violet. 

Ink smiled as he admired his handiwork. He made this necklace a while back, as a way to know when he needed to refuel on color. Some of the colors on his charm had faded away slightly, turning the empty space into a dull grey. But the most depleted color at the moment was yellow, which was his joy.

That made perfect sense to the skeleton, he didn’t feel nearly as much excitement as he usually did while designing new character outfits. The joy he had now would still last him a while, but Ink figured that it wouldn’t hurt to refuel a little, just in case. 

He tucked the pendent back into his scarf, reached for his work belt that was strapped across his chest, and then grabbed a vial with a yellow heart-shaped stopper on it. He pulled out the cork, leaned his head back, then drank the color inside the vial. The moment the color touched Ink’s lips, or whatever the equivalent to lips for a skeleton was, he was filled with a surge of joy. Like a lightning bolt being struck into his marrow. It tasted so good, like birthday cake with sprinkles.

He really liked this emotion. It was one of his favorites. 

But soon, his vial ran dry. He tried to shake out a few more drops out of it, but it did no good. Ink didn’t need to check his pendent to know that he only filled his yellow slot to its halfway mark. 

“Wow, I go through yellow like Classic Sans goes through ketchup bottles,” he said to his paintbrush with a shrug, “Well Broomy, guess we better go get a refill.” 

With that said, he returned his sketchbook into his inventory, making it disappear from his hands, then grabbed onto the end of his giant paintbrush.

Then, he went down

Down

Down 

Beyond the papers and close to the end of his universe. It didn’t take him long until he felt solid ground below his feet. He hopped off Broomy then secured it on his back for later. He took a second to look up and admire the view of all the different universes from below. From where he was, they almost looked like butterflies fluttering high above a sunset sky.

It was pretty spectacular.

When he was satisfied, he walked over to a large, multicolored fountain not far from where he was standing. The Creator’s Fountain was a beautiful spring that squirted eight different colors of paint high into the air. These colors would then usually curve forward and splatter into large, colorful puddles on the ground. 

Or at least, it usually was. But today, there was nothing. The fountain was completely dry. There wasn’t even a drop of color coming out. 

"Huh, that's new." his left pupil turned into an orange swirl as a result of this befuddlement.

Normally, the fountain was powered by the imagination of the creators. When they wrote or drew a certain feeling in their creation, it would manifest itself as paint in the fountain. Then Ink would bottle the emotion up in his vials so he could use them to help him protect the multiverse.

A symbiotic relationship.

One couldn’t exist without the other.

It troubled Ink that the fountain would be dry. “Hmm, maybe today is just one of those creative block days.” he said to Broomy as he inspected the pipes of the fountain, but even as he said this he knew that it wasn’t that. Even on those kinds of days there was always at least a trickle of paint for Ink to use. 

His mind changed tracks when he heard a harsh ding from above him. His pupil became a purple triangle as he snapped his neck up back to the papers above. He had learned long ago that whenever he heard this dreadful sound, it meant that there was an AU was in trouble, and he needed to save it. 

He turned back to the broken fountain, "I'll deal with you later."

Quickly forgetting his previous dilemma, he hopped back onto Broomy and soared up into the air. Anxious, but also the tiniest bit excited, to defend the story in danger. When he reached the center of the cluster of papers, he flew around, searching for the world that needed protecting. Hundreds of thousands of different stories blew past him. He didn’t exactly have an ‘organizing system', but he knew where everything was, so it wasn’t a problem.

He read the titles of the pages as he brushed past them:

Undertale.

Underswap.

Underfell.

Horrortale. (this one brought back fun memories)

Until he finally found the one that wasn’t like the other AUs. This piece of paper was crossed out with a big purple X. Ink couldn’t even tell what it once was, and he knew that it wasn't supposed to look like that. But he knew what this meant though. He had seen it so many times that it hurt to keep track. 

He sighed sadly, “Well, here we go again, I guess.”

He quickly swiped Broomy across the paper, which left a huge glob of violet ink floating in the space where the corrupted universe was. Then, without any hesitation or doubts, he jumped into the paint portal and into the AU.

It was only a few seconds later that he emerged from a different ink puddle in the alternative universe. He popped out of the puddle like a torpedo, then landed on his feet with the grace of a cat. When he raised his head, he was taken aback by the sheer blankness that surrounded him.

It was all white.

The once thriving AU had been reduced to nothing. There were no people, no trees, flowers, grass, dirt, not even a sky to fill the empty void.

It was just . . . 

Desolate.

Forsaken.

Abandoned.

Alone.

Ink clutched the fabric of his shirt. He hadn’t realized that his breaths had become so quick and shallow until he felt his ribcage. He shook his head, this entire place was bringing back terrible, lonely phantom memories that he was glad to have forgotten in his scatterbrain. 

“C-Calm down Ink. It’s okay, this will be over soon.” he reassured himself, “J-Just, fix the problem first, then I can fix the AU. Easy as pie.”

“oh, so i’m a problem now, huh?”

Ink froze at the the sound, then let out the breath he had held in. He recognized the voice all too well. He turned slowly, already knowing who’d he see.

“Hello Cross. It’s nice to see you again.”

Several feet in front of him stood a skeleton that looked a lot like himself. It wasn’t too surprising however, considering that they were both Sanses.

They both had the same round faces and large, circular eyes sockets with points of light in them. However, while Ink’s left pupil alternated it’s shape and color depending on his current mood and his right one stayed it’s usual light blue color, Cross’ were a little bit different. He had a white eye light for his left eye, just like many of the other Sanses in the universe, but his right eye was unique in the sense that it was a deep red and had a lightning bolt shaped scar underneath. This splash of red, plus the golden heart locket he wore around his neck, were the only colors present on his body. The rest of his outfit consisted in a fluffy white jacket and a black shirt and shorts with X’s on them. In fact, he wore a lot of X’s on his attire. Even his shoes had tiny, white, velcro crosses on them.

The near complete lack of color unsettled Ink slightly, but the most alarming thing about him at the moment was the large knife that he rested across his shoulders. 

It looked sharp and ready to strike.

“heh, it looks like i got you attention.” Cross’ voice was low, but it growled like a feral beast, “good, because i wanted to have a little chat with you.”

Ink looked at the other skeleton sadly, “We don’t have to do this.”

“i disagree.” Cross said as he pointed his enormous knife in Ink’s direction, “you have something i want.”

Ink exhaled heavily, “I already told you, I can’t give you back what you lost. Your world died, and your friends along with it. My power isn’t strong enough to bring those back from the dead.”

“yeah, ya keep saying.” Cross rolled his eyes, “while i would love to touch that topic again on a later date, i'm actually here for a different reason.”

“And what would that be.” Ink stood tall, holding fast to his bravery as his friend spoke.

Cross chuckled humorlessly, “if i told ya then it wouldn’t be a surprise. so why don’t ya just let me take what i want, or else i might have to do something painful." He brushed his hand across the sharp end of his blade threateningly, testing its sharpness, “i know that even without your silly little vials you can still feel pain.”

Ink’s fingers twitched as he subconsciously brushed the precious vials that were strapped onto his work belt. He sighed sorrowfully for his friend, “Cross, we’ve done this song and dance so many times, I know the steps by heart. Can’t we replace the pirouette with a chasse to shake things up?"

Cross looked away from his knife and stared at Ink, seemingly confused. Ink decided to drop the metaphor,

“Forget what I said. What I mean is that I don’t want to fight you anymore. Please Cross, let me help you. I can’t fix your universe, but I can at least help you move on." Ink took a step toward the other skeleton, catching him off guard for a split second, “I could take you to an AU where they lost their Sans. I’m sure they would be more than happy to take you in. You could start over. You could be happy again.”

Ink took another step closer, reaching out to the lost skeleton with his gloved hand, “Well, what do you say?”

Cross’ stared at Ink with wide eyes. His expression was slack and shocked. For a moment, it looked like he was seriously considering the offer. He looked at Ink, his eyes scrunched up. And then, tentatively, he slid closer to him, filling in the gap between the two of them. Ink smiled, this gave him the confidence to approach Cross again, and again, until they were within arm’s length from each other.

Cross lifted his hand slightly like he was about to take Ink’s hand, Ink’s smile grew wider and brighter at the thought that very soon Cross would be getting the long awaited happy ending he deserved.

But then his hand went up and rested on the top of his skull, and he just laughed. It was a loud, hard, almost insane laugh. “your so naive ink!”

“Huh?”

He continued to approach to Ink, but this time the other skeleton took a step back. “ya think that you can just wave your fancy paintbrush and magically make any problem disappear. well, newsflash! ya can’t!”

Cross was getting physically aggressive. His cold eyes bore into Ink and he dragged his knife menacingly across the floor, leaving a long scrape mark in its wake.

Despite this, Ink wasn’t afraid.

He was cautious and wary, but not afraid.

“I don’t want some cheap imitation. I want my real brother back, my real friends, and my own world, and you’ve made it pretty clear that you won’t help me.” Ink blinked and then he found that Cross had teleported himself a few inches away from his face, he stumbled back in surprise. 

“luckily for me,” he kept talking, “i found someone who will, and all i have to do is pick up a little something for him.”

Ink paused and looked at Cross curiously, waiting for him to explain.

But then, all of a sudden, Cross lunged at him. Grasping a hold of his work belt and his color vials.

Realizing what was going on, Ink instinctively grabbed Broomy from his back and swiped Cross away hard, causing the other skeleton to let go. He crashed a good several feet away then rolled back onto his feet again, crouching low like a panther ready to strike.

“grr, just hand over the vial and i promise that i’ll only hurt ya a little.”

“What? No! I’m not going to give these to you.” Ink said, slightly offended by the demand, “I need them, and in the wrong hands it could bring catastrophe to the multiverse.” 

Cross snarled angrily, “i’m gonna give you one last chance to give up your bottles peacefully.”

Ink scrunched up his eyes then spread his feet apart into a battle stance, twirling Broomy around swiftly like a bo staff. He desperately wanted to help Cross, but if he was determined to go down this path, then he had to stop him.

Seeing Ink's defiance, Cross thrust forward, his sharp knife aimed to kill, but Ink deflected the blade with his own paintbrush easily. Cross kept coming at him, swinging left, right, up, down, forward, causing Ink to move backwards. 

No longer surprised, Ink held his own. He struck forward, jabbed Cross with Broomy. He aimed for the skeleton's weak points, like his eyes, nasal cavity, throat, ribs, anything to get him to back off, but Cross kept defending himself too.

It appeared that they were evenly matched when it came to combat, but now it was time for magic.

Ink focused the energy that flowed through his body, and then he teleported himself behind Cross just as he was about to bring his knife down on the skeleton’s skull. The blade cracked the floor leaving a sickening split in the whiteness.

While he had the upper hand, Ink sent out a barrage of orange and blue bones bullets straight toward Cross. But the other skeleton just sliced through them like they were paper, turning them into tiny, colorful specks of dust.

After that, Cross jumped high up into the sky, like the gravity of this universe didn’t affect him at all. Then, he summoned five spine-chilling Gaster Blasters and landed one one of them so he could ride the beastly skull. These blasters were unique to the other one’s Ink had seen. Cross’ blasters had four eyes instead of the average two.

And they were all staring down at him.

The whine of a blaster charging up rang through the heavy air. The first laser blast headed straight towards Ink, but he managed to dodge it with ease. It wasn’t until Cross called for a rapid fire that sweat started to bead up on his skull. He was surrounded by the hot, flashy lasers, yet his still found it in himself to dodge each and every blast. There was one moment when he was only inches away from being fried by the beam of light, but Ink darted to the side at the last moment, rolling back into a battle stance. 

He looked up at Cross, his eyes were narrow with focus, then Ink summoned two blasters of his own. His were also different from the average blaster, them being a dark grey with red eyes. He commanded them to charge up, and then he pointed his bony finger towards the enemy blasters. The same blasting sound came from his own, and one by one all except one of Cross blasters were reduced to dust.

Cross shouted in frustration as he watched his small army crumble, he ordered his final blaster, the one he was riding on, to fire. But by this time, Ink had already dismissed his own blasters and had a running start. 

He soared into the air, Broomy raised high above his head, until he was at Cross’ eye level. Time seemed to slow down as they stared at each other. 

It would have been so easy to strike him. Cross had little to no time to react to Ink’s advances. It would have been so easy to knock him down from his high throne.

But instead of hitting Cross, Ink brought his paintbrush down on the four-eyed blaster. Cracking it’s skull and turning it to dust.

Cross dropped from the sky, but was able to tuck and roll onto the floor before the fall could seriously injure him. Ink used Broomy to fly several feet over to the opposite side of Cross. He breathed heavily as he held his brush across his chest defensively, ready to dodge again if necessary.

Cross panted angrily, “face it ink, you don’t really care about me! you just want me out of the way! if it weren't for those stupid vials, you would be nothing!” 

“Maybe," Ink admitted, "But at least I’m trying to care, even if it’s artificial. What I said before is true; I don’t want to fight you Cross, but I can’t allow you to hurt anymore AUs.” 

“just give me your emotions and i would be more that happy to leave this forsaken universe.”

Ink huffed, exasperated, “You really want them so badly? Well then, here!” He yanked one of his vials off his sash and held it up for Cross to see, “Take it!”

He threw the vial as far and as high as he could. Up over Cross’ head and still gaining momentum. The skeleton’s eyes were blown wide as he looked up at the tiny bottle. He couldn’t let it hit the ground. He couldn’t let it shatter. 

He needed it.

He stumbled backwards, still watching the vial as gravity started to bring it back down. In a flash, Cross teleported across the room and practically slide across the floor to catch the vial before it shattered on the ground.

Cross sighed with relief. He had one. He actually had one. He smiled as he admired it in his hands, but then the smile dropped into a scowl. There was something wrong with this bottle. 

Cross shook it slightly, and to his horror, he realized that the yellow vial was empty.

There wasn’t even a drop of color inside it anymore.

He growled as he quickly turned back to Ink, but what he saw next nearly made his soul stop beating.

Ink had opened another paint-based portal, but instead of diving into it like he usually did, Cross saw that he was holding his work belt over it. His fingers trembling slightly at his hesitation.

“no! no! no! NO!” Cross shouted, and he teleported back to where Ink and his portal were and grabbed onto the unsuspecting skeleton’s wrist. 

Ink struggled against Cross’ grip, but it was too tight for him to shake loose. Not knowing what else to do, he kicked Cross in the ribs with all his might, sending him sprawled across the floor and out of breath.

Then, silently apologizing, he threw his work belt into the puddle. It sank into the liquid and disappeared from sight.

Cross had managed to raise himself off the floor again and tried to frantically dive into the portal himself. But Ink, still holding Broomy in his hands, swiftly swiped away the paint. Leaving the floor blank and white once again.

Cross landed in the space where the portal was just a little too late and landed on his face instead. When he pushed himself back up to his knees, he just stared absentmindedly at the ground, like he was expecting it to come back at any moment. But it didn’t, and it wouldn’t.

It was over.

“no. no. i-i failed?" Cross' breaths were raspy and dense," i couldn’t have. how c-could i let this . . . p-papyrus, i-i’m sorry. i-i failed you . . . again.” 

Ink felt a twinge of sadness for his friend. He felt like he could empathize with him. After all, he just wanted his to be with his brother again so that they could hang out, talk, and be a family again.

Slowly, so as not to startle him, Ink walked next to the distraught Cross and put a light, gentle hand on his shoulder. He could feel his bones trembling underneath the layers of fabric he wore.

“I’m sorry Cross, but this is for the best. You need to move on. This is the only way you’ll be able to hea-”

Cross grabbed Ink’s hand and threw him over his shoulder and onto the ground. He yanked Broomy from Ink’s hands and hurled it across the room. The dazed skeleton looked up at his friend with shocked confusion as he pushed his foot down on him.

“where are they?”

“Huh?”

“where did you send those vials.”

There was a pause, but then it was interrupted by Ink’s sudden, light-hearted laughter.

“You really think I know?” he giggled, “Oh please, I just swiped my brush without even thinking about a destination. They could be in literally any of the thousands of other universes.” 

“y-you’re lying.”

“Cross, you know me,” Ink said seriously, “Even if you don’t like it, you know I wouldn’t lie about something like this.”

“you idiot!” Cross screamed, “now you’ll never find them!”

“True,” Ink nodded in agreement, “But then again, neither will you.”

Cross glared at Ink with his harsh, cold stare. He looked murderous, and his body was shaking hard. He looked like he wanted to-

Ink gasped as the cold, sharp metal pierced through his chest. Cross still stood over him, his own volatile magic humming wildly in the open air as he pushed his knife further into the other skeleton’s abdomen with all his rage. 

Black ink spilled out from the stab wound, causing Ink to feel light headed. He wanted to scream, but is voice was lost somewhere in his throat and all that came out was a strangled moan. His left eye turned into a violet triangle as he choked on the air like a fish out of water. It was getting harder to breath, he couldn’t move. 

Everything burned.

Everything hurt.

He was surprised he wasn’t dust.

When Cross yanked his giant knife from Ink, the injured skeleton rolled onto his side and hugged his middle, curling up into a fetal position in the process. His breaths shook his entire frame, causing his bones to rattle together.

Why was it getting harder to breath? He didn't even have any lungs!

He couldn’t believe how stupid he had been. He shouldn’t have let his guard down. Of course he would attack him then. Ink had thought that if he got rid of his emotion vials, then Cross would have no reason to fight anymore. But he was wrong. He should have seen this coming.

He . . . should . . . have . . .

It was getting harder for Ink to think straight, and not in his normal, excited way. He felt like his mind was a bog and treading through it was slow and groggy. The floor felt like it was shifting wildly beneath him. He couldn’t see Cross anymore, but maybe that was a good thing. Maybe that meant he had left. Ink let out a shaky groan as he pushed his trembling body up onto his hands and knees.

He needed to get out of here.

He turned his head around and saw that Broomy had rolled away a few feet away from him. Ink tried to stand up, but nausea overtook him and caused him to collapsed back onto the floor, black ink splattering as he fell. He felt like he was going to throw up, but he suppressed the feeling and began to crawl toward his reliable brush.

He cried out softly. Even lifting his hand to claw himself forward felt like he was being stabbed in the gut again. He was losing a lot of magic, but if he could just get to Broomy, then he could fix his wound, he could fix this AU.

His brush was so close now. His fingertips almost grazed the smooth wood.

**_ SNAP!_ **

Ink stuttered a breath as a foot came down in front of him and snapped his precious brush into two. His eyes went dark as he looked up at Cross looming viciously over him. Without warning, the skeleton then grabbed Ink by the back of his scarf and dragged him forward, causing Ink’s wound to sting even more. 

He yelped in pain, but before he could get out of reach, Ink grabbed hold of the splintering end on his brush. He hugged it close to his body, like it was his only friend in the world, and he just lost them. He moaned achingly as Cross dragged him to an unknown location. He was too weak to resist to anything.

Everything hurt.

It hurt to even stay conscious. His senses dulled and his body went limp as Cross hauled him across the floor, leaving behind a sick line of black ink in the white ground.

After what felt like an eternity of torture, Cross dropped Ink’s scarf, letting his skull fall onto the ground with a gut-churning THUD.

Ink stayed motionless on the floor. He was only slightly aware of what was happening to him. The only thing he could still comprehend was the pain in his stomach and the wooden stick he had stubbornly kept with him, even in his half-senselessness.

But a sound from above him caught his attention. It sounded familiar, like someone had opened a window and was letting the wind blow through it. When managed to looked up, he was surprised to see that Cross had opened up a portal of his own. It wasn’t like the paint portals he made, but this one was more like a window, where he could see high above the streets of what he could guess was Ebbot City.

“W-What?” Ink croaked. He was confused. Cross couldn’t open his own portals. He never could. He always relied on some other being to get him to other universes. If Cross could do this on his own, then . . .

Ink’s eyes went wide and his senses became a little sharper.

His emotion vials!

What had he been thinking!

“oh, your still awake.” Ink whimpered and let out a shuddering gasp as Cross lifted him by his shirt and held him over the portal. “don’t give me that. i had no intent to kill ya. you’ll live, maybe you’ll even survive the fall too.”

Suddenly terrified, looked down the portal and into the streets of Ebbot City. He must have been a thousand feet up in the sky. And without Broomy to help him fly...

“N-no . . . p-please . . . d-don’t.” he gasped,

Cross just laughed, “begging for mercy are we? i’m sorry to say that ya missed your chance.”

The skeleton glared maliciously at Ink, who was quivering from both shock and fear. “goodbye ink. if you’ll excuse me, i have some important vials i need to track down. i hope to never have to see ya again.”

With that said, he threw Ink into the portal. Letting him free-fall down down to the Surface as he closed the window behind him.

The wind rushed through Ink's bones as he fell, making everything painful in his body hurt ten times worse than before. His consciousness was already starting to slip from him again. 

He was so tired, and everything ached.

He wanted it to go away.

With the last bit of strength he had left, he pulled his half of Broomy close to his chest and let the darkness envelop his mind. The last thing he remembered before blacking out was the air enveloping him in a sparkling, colorful light as gravity pulled him to the Surface.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ink belongs to @comyet  
> Cross belongs to @jakeiartwork  
> Art by me: https://www.deviantart.com/princess-jaybird


	4. An Unexpected Quest

Ink felt like someone had turned his skull into a bell, because his whole head was ringing.

He struggled to regain his consciousness again. Every time he felt like he almost had a grip on his awareness, it slipped away from his fingers. Making his skull and limbs feel like they were filled with concrete that pulled him down back into the darkness of sleep.

After a few failed attempts, he finally managed to painfully pry his eyes halfway open. His vision was bleary, like he was looking through a sleepy fog. He could only make out hazy shapes and the colors blurred together. But after slowly blinking a few times, he was able to make out a distorted image of his surroundings.

He was in a bedroom, he could tell that much. He was lying on a huge bed and the heavy blanket over him seemed to hug his body in a soft, protective way. In front of him he could see a bookcase full of DVDs and books, and if he turned his head slightly he could see a blue lamp with red fish on the shade and a digital clock that said it was five o’clock in the morning.

Where was he?

What had happened?

Why did he feel like he had just been pulled through a wringer?

He lifted his hand and placed it on his aching head, groaning as he rubbed it soothingly.

He couldn’t remember.

 _“Heh, nothing new there.”_ he thought,

Once his vision became as clear as it could get in the dark room, Ink propped himself up onto his elbows and tried get into a sitting position. But a sudden, sharp pang in his chest forced him back onto the pillow. The burning pain stabbed at him and took his breath away. Ink forced himself to take deep breaths through his gritted teeth. Darkness flooded the edge of his vision as he hissed in pain, threatening to pull him back down into unconsciousness. But he held on.

The pain was intense, but brief. Seemingly vanishing a few seconds after Ink laid himself back down on the bed. Once the worst of the sting had ebbed away, he carefully lifted his hand and grazed his fingers along his sternum. Nothing felt out of place. All his ribs were solid, intact, and nothing felt broken. And yet, there was a fuzzy feeling in his bones. Like he had just been injected with painkillers.

Or infused with healing magic.

Ink scrunched up his eyes thoughtfully. He needed to check something.

He pushed himself up again, slower this time so as not to cause another attack of pain, then he carefully inched himself over to the edge of the bed and placed his bare feet onto the soft carpet. His body shook slightly as he put all his weight on his legs, but he felt like he was strong enough to walk. He kept one hand on the edge of the bed for support, just in case, and he made his way to a mirror that stood on the opposite wall.

As he stared at his reflection, he was slightly relieved to know that still looked like himself. He even still had his signature ink splotch on his right cheek that he always thought gave him character. However, the clothes that were on his body now were alien to him. Instead of his usual outfit, he was wearing a black shorts and a salmon-pink T-shirt with a picture of a pink cat. The shirt was a little too big for him, but he liked the character design on the front, so he didn’t mind too much. 

Shaking the distracting thoughts out of his head, he then proceeded to lift up the pink shirt so he could check his bones underneath. Just as he thought, none of his bones were broken, even the swirling tattoos that were embedded into his bones seemed fine, but this wasn’t what Ink was looking for. 

After a few moments of deep scrutinizing, he finally saw the faint, glittering residue of green healing magic that coated his sternum and ribs in a fine layer. 

He had been injured.

And by the looks of the amount of magic remnants, it had been pretty bad.

That would explain why he had such a hard time waking up, and why he still felt a little achy. 

But how had he gotten hurt? 

Who had hurt him? 

And more importantly: who had healed him?

Ink carefully pulled the shirt down and decided to leave it be for now. The healing magic may have helped him recover, and the coating was keeping the pain away, but that didn’t mean he was completely cured yet. He didn’t need to have a medical degree to know that applying serious stress onto his wound was a bad idea at the moment. It might reopen the injury and then he would be in trouble.

A light in the corner of Ink’s eye caught his attention and made him jump tracks. He turned his head to see that the door was left open slightly, letting in a small crack of light into the dimly lit room.

There was someone else out there.

He wasn’t alone.

Ink panicked for a moment. The person out there must have been the one to take him in, and if they brought him to their home that meant that they saw him, and if they saw him that meant that he was interfering with this timeline, and he couldn’t do that! That was his number one rule!

He took a few deep breaths to calm himself down and reassure himself that everything was fine. Even if he did disturb this timeline by a little bit, all he needed to do was leave and then things should go back to the way things were. Ink instinctively reached behind his back, and was surprised to find himself groping at the air.

Ink’s eye blazed with a violet triangle.

Broomy wasn’t there.

Ink looked out at the door again. A small voice in his head told him that he should go back to the bed and go to sleep. He could get Broomy in the morning and needed the rest. For crying out loud, he had just been unconscious ten minutes ago. He was in no condition to be out and about.

But, there was a louder voice in his head that told him that he should go explore his surroundings, find his paintbrush, and piece together the memories he had forgotten. This was an adventure after all.

Not surprising, the louder voice won.

He slipped past the door, taking extra care not to make any noise in case there were still people sleeping. Then he carefully tiptoed through the hallway.

Ink found that his strength was coming back to him again, as it was getting easier to walk on his own to feet. This was a good sign, it meant that he should have no problem using his magic in the possible near future. Whoever had healed him must have been a very powerful monster to have fixed him up this way.

The end of the hallway opened up into a larger room that doubled as a living room and a dining room. Ink walked further into the spacious room so he could get a better look at it.

On his left was a dining room table that was surrounded by eight identical looking chairs. It was fairly large and even had a fancy doily in the center for decoration. There were also a flight of stairs in that section of the room that lead up to the second level of the house. 

On his right was a long, cushiony blue couch that faced a giant flatscreen TV. Behind the couch in the corner of the room was a beautiful grand piano. And hanging all over the walls of the room were framed movie posters of different anime movies that Ink had never seen before, but one of the posters had the character that was on Ink’s shirt. He read the title of the movie underneath:

_Mew Mew Kissy Cutie_

Huh, interesting name. It sounded familiar too, but Ink couldn’t quiet place his finger on where he heard it before.

“isn’t it a little bit early to be sneakin’ around in the dark?”

Ink gave a start at the sound of the quiet, low voice that came behind him. He turned on the spot, a little nervous, but also excited to meet with the voice he had become so accustomed too.

And there, standing in the narrow hallway he had just walked through, was Sans. The original Sans. The one who loved to tell terrible jokes. The one who was so lazy it was unhealthy. The one who drank gallons of ketchup even though it offered no nutritional value. 

He was the first Sans, and was an inspiration to many creators. Heck, if it wasn’t for the lazy bag of bones, Ink might have never come into existence in the first place.

Ink’s face lit up at the sight of his old friend, “Classic!”

He bounded over to the other skeleton and pulled him into a tight squeeze. Sans smiled, “hey, easy there bud. don’t want ya to break a rib again. not after your lovely twelve-hour nap. i’m super jealous of ya by the way. it must've been nice.”

Ink smiled as he pulled away and looked up at the oh-so-familiar face, “What are you doing here? And follow up question, where are we?”

“we’re at undyne and alphys’ place. you were pretty banged up when i found you, so me and papyrus decided that it would be best to bring you here until we could get tori to come and heal you.”

“Toriel healed me!” Ink exclaimed, his eye turning into an intense purple triangle, 

“yeah. you should feel grateful too.” Sans said, “she gave up her anniversary party just to make sure you healed properly.”

“Classic! You know I can’t let anyone see me! I could accidentally alter or even corrupt timelines if I interfere with AUs too much.”

Sans just looked at Ink for a moment. Then he snorted. His low chuckles shook his frame and echoed in the quiet room. When he had some of his composure, he said, “sorry to tell ya this bud, but you are waaaay past going unnoticed.”

Ink blinked, and his left eye changed into an orange swirl as he tilted his head to the side, “What do you mean?”

Sans appeared confused by Ink’s reply, but that confusion turned into realization. He sighed heavily, “you don’t remember anything, do you?”

Before Ink could respond, a loud, boisterous voice came from up the stairs. “SANS! WHO ARE YOU TALKING TO?”

The voice startled Ink. Without really thinking about his actions, he quickly ducked behind his doppelgänger in a poor attempt to hide himself. 

Sans chucked at this behavior then shouted back upstairs. “oh, nobody!”

“WHAT!? NOBODY!?" there was a short pause "CAN I TALK TO THEM TOO?”

“sure, knock yourself out.”

“Classic!” Ink whispered harshly. His eyes wide with fear.

“come on ink, paps already knows you exist. might as well get to know him.”

“I live in a multiverse that is full of stories that surround your brother.” Ink hissed annoyedly, “I think I know him pretty well.”

“oh yeah?" Sans rose a brow, "then what’s his favorite food?”

Ink opened his mouth to reply, but no words came out. His face crunched up as he thought. What _was_ his favorite food? It was spaghetti, right? . . . No, he just cooked it because everyone else seemed to like it. But he still ate the stuff, so maybe? Hmm.

“Hey! What are you up to, punk!?” A strong, rough voice interrupted Ink’s thoughts, making him cringe behind Sans.

“I THINK THE SMALLER SANS IS AWAKE!” Ink grumbled after hearing this. “I AM GOING DOWNSTAIRS TO GREET HIM PROPERLY.”

“Really? Well wait for me! I’m gonna get Alphys real quick!”

Ink’s metaphorical heart almost stopped beating when he heard the loud, enthusiastic voices coming closer. Along with a shakier, more timid voice not far behind. He didn’t dare to look over Sans’ shoulder. He already knew what would be in front of him if he did. He curled into himself more, and for the first time in his life he was happy to be the shortest Sans in the multiverse. 

“SANS? WHERE IS THE SMALLER YOU?”

“oh, i’m sure he’s around here somewhere,” Ink could almost hear the smirk on Sans’ face. “but you don’t have to be a sherlock _bones_ to find him.”

Papyrus groaned, “SANS, IT’S TOO EARLY IN THE MORNING FOR THIS. JUST TELL US WHERE HE IS.”

“i can do ya one better.”

Ink’s breath hitched as Sans sensed him stepping over to the left, exposing him to the line of sight of the other monsters. He slowly looked up at the monsters standing over him. They were all smiling down at him in a friendly way, but for some reason this just made him feel more uncomfortable. Ink felt his face grow warm, and he could only imagine his multicolored blush glowing in the dark room for all to see. He had never felt so exposed in his entire life. 

He normally tried to avoid talking with other people in any universe. It wasn't because he hated socializing with them, he loved each and every character in every story he visited. However, getting too attached to the people in stories just made it harder for him when they died. He only really talked to Sanses because they all had a special, brotherly connection with each other. Because of this though, he was afraid to admit that, more often than not, he didn’t always know what to do or say in front of other people.

So, for the longest time, he just gawked at the other monsters in the room. Not speaking, not moving, hardly even blinking. 

It was incredibly awkward.

Luckily for Ink, the ever-friendly Papyrus broke the silence. “WOW SQUID! YOU LOOK JUST LIKE MY BROTHER!”

This caught Ink’s attention. “I-I’m sorry. What did you call me?”

Papyrus hesitated for a second, like he was afraid he had offended him in some way. “I, UH, CALLED YOU SQUID.”

Ink’s eyes went wide, and his eye light changed from a purple triangle to a yellow star. It started out as a snicker, then as a chuckle, then as full blown laughter. Ink almost couldn’t control himself and he could feel tears starting to form near the edges of his eye sockets. His ribs hurt because of the intensity of his giggle fit. 

Although, the other monsters (excluding Sans, who was chuckling right along with him) looked down at him with horror.

“Woah! Hey, dude! Are you okay?” Undyne asked, her hands doubtfully hovering around the small skeleton’s body.

Ink managed to speak in between his gasping breaths, “You-you called me . . . you called me Squid!”

“Uh, y-yeah,” Alphys stuttered uncertainty, “Th-that's what Sans told-”

She didn’t even have to finish that sentence before she realized where she had gone wrong. She shot a quick glare over at Sans, who still hadn’t stopped laughing, himself.

“S-Sans! Why would you do that.”

Ink was starting to get a grip on himself, “Don’t- don’t be mad at Cla- at Sans. He wasn’t really lying. Squid is just a nickname my friends call me.”

The skeleton smiled up at the monsters, grateful that the stress and tension he felt earlier had melted away with his laughter, “My real name is Ink.”

“INK.” Papyrus pondered the name for a moment then smiled. It was an amazing thing to see, “THAT IS A GREAT NAME. MY NAME IS PAPYRUS, AND IT IS NICE TO FINALLY MEET YOU WHILE YOU ARE CONSCIOUS.”

This made the smaller skeleton feel happy. His eye lights glowed brighter in response.

Undyne approached the smaller skeleton and reached her hand out toward him, which he took and proceeded to shake in a friendly manner, “Hey Ink. I’m Undyne, former captain of the Royal Guard.”

“A-And I’m Dr. Alphys.” The yellow lizard stuttered as she waved timidly at him, 

Ink already knew their names quite well, but he had heard somewhere that it was rude to interrupt people while they were talking, so he decided not to point out this fact and let them introduce themselves.

“So I-Ink,” Alphys began, “H-how are you feeling?”

“Much better than when I woke up, thank you.” points for politeness, he was on a roll! “I still can’t remember anything though.”

“Th-that would make sense. Y-you suffered a lot of trauma from your accident. Temporary memory loss was a-an expected side effect.”

“nah, little squid here is just a scatterbrain.” Sans said as he slapped Ink playfully on the back, causing the other skeleton to stumble forward slightly. “he’s always forgetting things like this.”

“Sure,” Undyne said uncertainly, she rubbed the back of her neck, “So, why do they call you Squid anyway?”

“Oh, well, I have this condition, and when I get really excited or nervous about something I sometimes-”

Ink froze, surprising the small group for a second. He saw something. He stared at the far wall, staring at a piece of wood that had caught his eye. Slowly, he walked over to the corner where it was tucked and picked it up.

He recognized the wood.

He let his fingertips graze over the once smooth polish.

“OH YES, FRISK FOUND THAT BROKEN BROOM IN THE MIDDLE OF THE STREET. SANS TOLD US THAT IT WOULD BE A GOOD IDEA IF WE BROUGHT IT WITH US. SAID THAT IT WAS VERY IMPORTANT TO YOU AND THAT YOU WOULD BE CROSS IF YOU DID NOT HAVE IT WITH YOU.”

Cross. The corrupted AU. Their battle. His work belt.

Ink inhaled sharply.

His emotion vials!

He remembered what happened now.

Ink's eyes went dark. He dropped his half of Broomy as the room swirled around him. He was starting to feel nauseous.

“Uh, little dude, are you okay?”

Ink’s throat burned! Without warning, black ink sputtered out of the skeleton’s mouth like a waterfall and puddled onto the carpet, leaving him feeling light-headed and clammy. 

He heard Alphys shriek in fear for her T-shirt, he heard Undyne shout in anger over the carpet, and he heard Papyrus gasp with concern at the suddenness of the sickness. But they all sounded far away and watered out, like he was sinking in the ocean and they were yelling at him from above the surface.

“SMALLER SANS, ARE YOU ALRIGHT!?”

Ink’s senses snapped back into place, “I’VE MADE A TERRIBLE MISTAKE!” Ink screamed, his fingers digging into his skull. His own shout broke through all the other voices in the group, causing them to go silent in shock.

Desperately, Ink turned to Sans, his close friend that he could talk to about anything. He grasped his shoulders in his despair, “Please, tell me that I am dreaming, and when I wake up I’ll find myself back happily floating along in my own universe.”

“Okay, sure.”

Ink’s face lit up, “R-really?”

“no, but you told me to tell you that.”

Ink felt his world crumbe around him. He didn’t move. He didn’t blinked. So when he threw his head back and let out a gut-churning scream, it terrified the small group.

“AAAAHHHH!”

Without saying so much as ‘goodbye’, Ink ran past the other monsters, through the back door, and out into the damp morning air all while screaming like a maniac. 

The sun hadn’t come up yet, but Ink hardly even notice. He was too absorbed in his own thoughts to acknowledge anything. He was an idiot! How could he have been this stupid? How could he have done something so thoughtlessly? 

Before he could run any further, Sans popped up in front of him and grabbed him by the collar of Alphys’ shirt, pulling him back as he tried to get away. “geez squid, what’s the rush?” Sans chuckled, “you’re putting all sanses to shame with that kind of energy.”

Ink grabbed onto Sans’ shirt and pulled him close to his face, “Quick, Classic, teach me how to turn off my emotions!”

“u-um, what?”

“Oh, never mind. You’re always sad.” Ink let go of Sans and groaned miserably, pushing his hands into his face, “Ugh, I’ve just made the most stupid mistake in all the multiverse.”

“aw come on, don’t be so dramatic. it can’t be that bad.”

Ink’s head jerked up as he stared at Sans, his left eye blazing a red target icon. “Not that bad? Ha! No, of course you’re right. I only just went into a corrupted AU where, low and behold, Cross was there. Then when he tried to steal my emotion vials, I had the _brilliant_ idea to hide them in a different universe in the hopes that Cross would stop fighting when they were gone. But NOPE, he pins be down, stabs me, breaks Broomy, and throws me out a portal to fall to my death. And if things couldn’t get any worse, he’s somehow gained the ability to AU hop. So he is currently looking for my vials and I can’t go after him because, like I said before, he broke my Broomy. And I can’t travel between time and space without him. Plus, I don’t even know where my vials are! I have inadvertently brought ruin to the entire multiverse!” 

Ink took a deep breath after his rant. Then, he plastered an obviously fake smile on his face for the other skeleton, “But you’re right. It obviously isn’t _that_ bad.”

Sans just nodded his head thoughtfully, clearly catching the sarcasm in Ink’s voice. “no, you’re right,” he said, “that was pretty stupid.”

Ink moaned again, this time in frustration and self-disgust. “I really messed up Classic.”

“yeah, well. welcome to the club.” Sans said, rubbing the back of his skull, “so what are ya gonna do now?”

“I don’t know!” Ink groaned, “I’m stuck here without Broomy, and I can’t even fix him because I don’t have the other half.”

“can’t you just make a new one?” Sans asked, “i’ve seen you make your drawings come to life before.”

Ink sighed, he wished it could be that simple, “No, Broomy was a gift from the creators. His powers came from beyond the reaches of this world and others like it. I couldn’t replicate him even if I tried.”

Sans nodded and placed his hand underneath his chin, “hmmm, what about your other au hopping buddies, can you just call them or somethin’”

Ink shook his head in defeat, “Interdimensional communication is impossible. The signals always get lost between time and space. I couldn’t call them even if they had a phone.”

“well, there has to be something you can do.”

“Like what?” Ink asked, a little harsher than he had intended, “Because if you have any ideas I would be more than happy to hear them.”

Just then, Undyne came storming out of the house, and she was seething. And it looked like that rage was directed toward Ink. Alphys and Papyrus were behind her, trying to hold her back as she furiously stomped towards the two small skeletons. But despite their efforts, their own strength was no match for the power house fish.

She loomed over Ink, flames in her eye, “What the heck is wrong with you ya little punk. Why in Asgore's name would you do that! Do you know how expensive it will be to get that stain out! You gotta glitch in your skull or something?" 

Glitch?

Glitchy!

Ink’s smile grew wider and his face lit up as an idea began to form in his head. He excitedly turned back to the angry fish lady. “Undyne! You’re a genius!”

Then quickly, without any kind of warning whatsoever, Ink jumped up on the blue monster, wrapped his arms around her strong neck, and gave her a big kiss on her lips. 

Undyne when stiff.

Alphys gasped in horror.

Papyrus stared with his mouth hanging open.

And Sans just laughed.

It was meant to be a gesture to show his appreciation and gratitude, but apparently it wasn’t seen in that light. Undyne quickly tore Ink off and threw him hard onto the grass. Her single, yellow eye was wide with rage and she stared down at him murderously, 

“YOU LITTLE FREAK! WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU?” she screamed.

“Many things, but there’s no time for that.” Ink smiled as got up and brushed himself off. 

He turned away from Undyne, who was still shocked and fuming. Both Papyrus and Alphys had to keep her from impaling the small skeleton with her spear as he walked further into the backyard to inspect his surroundings.

He made a quick mental calculation of the area of the rectangular yard. It wasn’t big by normal standards, but Ink could work with it. If he got started right away, then he would probably be done by brunch. 

Ink beamed with excitement, but then he caught himself and quickly pushed the feeling down. If his poorly thought out plan was going to work, he needed to reserve his power. He _was_ working with limited resources now. Each of his emotions and abilities had to be saved, and could only be used if absolutely necessary. It would be difficult, but he was sure he could do it. 

After all, Sanses were great at pushing down their feelings.

Trying his best not to feel any giddy emotions, (and failing) he quickly ran back to the house. 

“Hey! Where do you think you’re going!?” Undyne yelled, still wiping her lips. She was obviously still disgusted and angry about Ink’s previous expression of gratitude.

“I’m getting my art clothes! I need to be in the right mindset so I can get to work!”

Alphys looked over at Sans nervously, who just smirked. This did little to settle the anxious feeling in her gut. “W-Work?” 

“Yeah, I need to contact a friend. Don’t worry though!” The star in Ink’s eye shone brightly through the darkness. “You guys are gonna love Error!”

\--------------- 

**_DING DONG_ **

After a few seconds, the door opens to reveal Alphys standing behind the door.

“O-oh, hello your majesties. H-hello Frisk. P-Please, come in.”

Frisk, Toriel, and Asgore entered the house. Earlier that morning, Papyrus had called the small family and said that Ink had finally woken up (he also made sure to tell him that his name was Ink and not Squid like Sans had told them), so they all decided to come over and make sure he was doing okay. Toriel even baked a cinnamon-butterscotch pie as a ‘get well soon’ treat.

When they walked into the living room, they found that no one was there. So, while Toriel took the liberty of setting her pie in the kitchen, Asgore turned back to his former Royal scientist for some small talk, “Dr. Alphys, it is nice to see you again.”

A pink blush began to bloom across the doctor’s yellow-scaled face, “I-It’s nice to see you too.”

“Oh dear!” Frisk turned and saw Toriel looking down at a ugly black mark that stained the carpet in the corner of the room, “What happened here?” she asked,

“Oh, yeah that, um . . . There was a bit of an i-incident, and um . . . Ink got a little . . . excited? A-and he th-threw up on the carpet.”

“yeah, it was pretty awesome” Sans chuckled, startling Alphys as he suddenly appeared in the space next to her, “you should have seen the look on her face when it happened. priceless!”

“Sans!” Frisk tackled him with a hug.

“heya, what’s kickin’ little chicken?” he returned the gesture with his usual laid back attitude.

“Hello again, Sans.” Toriel spoke this time.

“hey tori,” Sans smiled up at his friend, “hey, thanks again for what you did last night, i know you were really looking forward to celebrating your anniversary-”

“Oh, think nothing of it. I was more than happy to heal your friend.”

“Yes, the life of a monster is far more important than our plans to go bowling.” Asgore agreed,

“you were going to take your wife bowling on your anniversary?” Sans smirked, “well, i guess that is right up your _alley_. heheheh.”

Toriel snorted right along with the skeleton, even Asgore found himself chuckling deeply, despite himself. 

“Where is he anyway?” Frisk asked as she scanned the room and didn’t see any trace of Ink, other than the black stain on the carpet, “I wanted to say ‘hi.’”

“H-He’s outside in the backyard.” Alphys replied, “He’s been up since five in the morning working on . . . I don’t even know what. H-He says it’s important and that he’s trying to call his friend, b-but I’m not entirely sure what he’s talking about.”

“he’s actually building something really cool.” Sans nodded his head over to the door that lead out back, “c’mon, you’ve gotta see it.”

Frisk didn’t hesitate. She rushed over to the door and yanked it open with all her enthusiasm. When she stepped out into the backyard, she was amazed by what she saw.

Yesterday, Undyne and Alphys’ backyard was nothing more than a patch of grass. But somehow, overnight, a colorful building twice the size of her friends’ house now overtook the small space. 

There were four levels, and it was stacked in a way that reminded Frisk of a fancy layer cake. Each layer was adorned with a different pattern. The bottom level was decorated with tiger stripes, the next level was polka dotted, third level was plaid, and the fourth level was decorated with floral patterns.

Undyne and Papyrus stood at the edge of the lawn, just watching the impressive building. Papyrus’ face was lit up with wonder like a Gyftmas tree, while Undyne just grumbled to herself.

“I can’t believe I am letting him do this. I mean, look at this eye sore.”

“I THINK IT’S REALLY PRETTY.”

“Honestly Pap, I think this guy is just a few cards short of a deck.”

“Good morning you two.” Toriel said sweetly as she ducked her head so she would not bump into the doorframe. Agore followed close behind her.

“Hi Toriel, Asgore, Frisk.” Undyne waved distractedly,

“GOOD MORNING YOUR MAJESTIES,” Papyrus beamed, never failing to show his great enthusiasm, “AND GOOD MORNING TO YOU TOO FRISK.”

“Hi Papyrus.” Frisk waved at the lanky skeleton, then she looked up and gawked at the crazy building, “Wow, Ink did all this?”

“Yeah,” Undyne groaned, “I still can’t believe this puny freak in responsible for keeping the whole universe safe.”

“M-multiverse actually.” Alphys stuttered, “Sans said that he protected the multiverse.”

Undyne just rolled her eyes, “How did you even meet a loser like that anyway?” she asked Sans,

“honestly, it was an accident.” Sans said as he stood next to his brother, looking up at the imensive structure. “i just spilled some ketchup from a bottle one day. It started to bubble up and he just popped out of it.”

“Really?” Toriel asked, “That is very odd. What exactly do you know about him?” 

“not much,” Sans admitted, “we’ve only crossed paths a few times, and that was only when something was either about to kill me or him. he’s a cool guy n’all, but we’ve never really hung out in a social setting before. the only things i know about him are that he pukes ink, his color vials are really important to him, and he’s in charge of protecting the multiverse.”

“Color vials?” Frisk asked, “What are those?”

“eh, why don’t ask him.” He pointed to the top floor of the crazy building, “i’m sure he’d like the company up there.”

Frisk’s face lit up as she looked at the neon green door that was left wide open. She turned and looked up at Asgore, “Can I Dad?”

“Of course, you don’t need to ask.” Asgore ruffled his daughter’s hair with his enormous, paw-like hand, “We’ll just be inside if you need us, okay?”

“Okay!” Frisk replied enthusiastically,

“alright kiddo, we’ll see you later,” Sans said as he turned back to the house, “we have a lot to catch the royal highnesses up on anyway.” 

Sans then turned back and smirked at Undyne, “you’ll have to tell us. am i a good kisser?”

The two boss monster’s looked back at Undyne with shocked curiosity, and she blushed furiously, “I swear Sans I will kill you.”

As the adults left to go back inside to chat, Frisk ran across the yard to the open door. When she first stepped through the doorway, she felt a puff of air come up underneath her, blowing up her hair and filling her shirt with compressed air. It startled her, but once the surprise past she was beaming with joy.

This was a fun house. She hadn’t never been to one of these things before. But so far it was going it’s job at amusing her. The whole bottom level was a maze of air jets, rocking and spinning floors, and dizzying optical illusions that befuddled her senses and brought a smile to her face.

Had Ink really done all of this? It was incredible! She hadn’t gotten to know the skeleton personally, but Sans had told her that he had special powers, abilities that were not from this world. That might have explained how he could have built something so big and intricate in just a few hours. 

Frisk saw a flight of stairs leading up to the next level in the corner of the room. She stepped on several air jets and spinning disks on the way over there. She tripped a few times, but all her time learning how to dodge attacks gave her really good balance, so she never fell.

* She got to the stairs and made her way to the second level which, at first glance, looked like an empty room with a checkerboard floor. It wasn’t until she stepped closer into the room that she realized that it was shaped weirdly. One corner of the room was longer and steeper than she thought it was, and the other had a low ceiling and was closer to the stairs. 

Frisk moved on to the next level. In this room, all four walls were adorned with large mirrors that made the reflection look strange and funny. Ink wasn’t in this room either, so she climbed up to the fourth and final floor.

This floor seemed only half finished, but the half that was done was full of things were meant to be climbed on. There were several raised platforms of different heights, and a rope net that was attached to a play structure that was close to the ceiling. Frisk was sure she would have had to crawl if she was up there. The platform was connected to a large, twisty tube slide that was placed right underneath a ball pit filled to the brim with colorful, plastic balls. 

Frisk found Ink on the far side of the room, humming to himself. He was wearing the unique clothing she originally saw him in again, but they looked like they got mended and cleaned up since then, and the broken broom she had found in the streets was now strapped to his back. In his hands, he held two small paint brushes. Frisk watched as he gracefully stroked color onto the walls. The paint seemed to come of the brushed naturally because Frisk didn’t see any paint cans in the room. She recognized the mural Ink was making as the keys of a piano, but instead he used bright, ruby red where the black keys should have been. Then when he moved onto the next painting, she stared in amazement as the paint popped out of the wall and became a solid, three-dimensional keyboard.

Frisk smiled, then she waved at the skeleton, “Hello Ink!”

Ink didn’t reply, he didn’t even look back. He seemed to be lost in his own thoughts. Frisk tried again, “Um, hi Ink.”

Once again, nothing. Frisk rolled her eyes. She walked over to the skeleton and tugged on his long, brown and tan scarf. “Hey Ink!”

Ink let out a short yelp and jumped away from Frisk in surprise, his left eye flaring with a bright violet triangle. His reaction was kind of funny, but once he saw that it was only the human child, his posture loosened up. He put a shaky hand to his chest as he caught his breath again. “Geez Frisk, you shouldn’t sneak up on people like that.”

Frisk gave an expression of confusion, “How did you know my name? Did Papyrus tell you?”

Ink’s mouth hung open for a moment, “Oh, I skipped that step, didn’t I.” Ink shook his head then extended his arm out in front of Frisk, “Hello, my name is Ink. What’s yours?”

Frisk was at a loss, but she decided to play along anyway, “Hello Ink, my name is Frisk.”

“Well, it’s nice to meet you.” he smiled brightly at her as released himself from his handshake. “Sorry to cut this short, but I have a lot to get done and little time to do it. So, if you don’t mind, I need to get back to work. It was nice meeting you though. Bye!”

Without waiting for Frisk to reply, he spun back around to his work. Frisk thought about going back to her parents and friends, but she was intrigued by this familiar stranger. There were so many things about him that interested her. His abilities for one thing, the fact that he looked so much like Sans for another, and the importance of the color vials to him. This curiosity was enough to keep her where she was. So, she plopped onto the ground and watched him as he worked. Waiting patiently for the right time to open him up like a book.

Ink looked back at the human a couple of times to see if she was still there, and she always was. He grinned sweetly at her, not forcing her to go away, as he created many other fun-looking things Frisk hoped she could try out for herself when he finished. He was working on a revolving barrel when he pulled out a pendent from his scarf that caught Frisk’s eye.

“You’re necklace is really pretty.” she commented

Ink looked back at her, “Oh, thanks! I made it myself” he beamed at her complement, rubbing the pendent thoughtfully with his thumb, “Would you like to hold it?”

Frisk’s eyes grew wide with excitement, “Can I?”

“Sure.” he slipped the necklace over his skull then walked over to Frisk so she could take it. It was beautiful. It metal felt so cool in he hands. All the colors of the rainbow seemed to glisten through the tough glass. Frisk traced the different slivers of color with her fingers.

“Do you like it?” Ink asked, his eye lights sparkling, “I made it a while back to help me measure my mood.”

“Huh?” Frisk looked up at the skeleton, confusion etched on her face, “What do you mean?”

Ink straightened up, “Well, I don’t really have a soul of my own-”

“What!? Really?” Frisk’s soul twinged. “That’s awful. I’m sorry.” Her thoughts turned back to Flowey. He had seemed so miserable to her, not being able to feel anything for anyone. She already felt sympathy in her soul for the skeleton.

Ink just chuckled softly, “You have nothing to feel sorry about. Besides, it’s not as bad as it sounds, and I have my color vials to help me . . . Or, at least I did, but I’ll get them back soon.”

“Yeah, Sans told me a little bit about them. Why are they so important anyway?” Frisk asked, finally getting close to the answers she was searching for, “What do they do?”

Ink bounced on the balls of his feet in an animated way as he moved on from his barrel and started painting roses on the walls, “Well, obviously since I don’t have a soul, I can’t feel my own emotions. My color vials help me feel the things that I could not feel on my own. Each color is a different emotion. Red is anger, orange is confusion, yellow is joy, blue is sadness, purple is fear, and etcetera. And whenever I drink one, I can feel the emotion that I took.”

“But that’s not all they can do,” Ink continued, the flowers had started to bloom out and filled the room with their sweet fragrance, “They also give me my magic powers.”

“Really?” Frisk had never heard of something like that. But then again, it did make sense. A monster’s magic came from their soul, so if Ink didn’t have one he would also have to rely on an alternate source for that too.

“Yeah! Yellow gives me the ability to make my drawings come to life along with allowing me to feel joy. Like this.” Ink gestured to the roses that were now living on the walls.

Frisk nodded then looked down at the necklace again, inspecting the section of yellow in the heart. She also noticed that if she squinted hard enough, she could see the color slowly but gradually turning light grey. 

“Why is the color going down?” she asked,

Ink smiled, “It takes more energy for me to use my magical abilities that it does for me to feel emotions. That’s why it’s so low at the moment.” 

“So, what happens if it turns grey completely.”

Ink paused, and Frisk saw his eye light flashing a dark blue raindrop for a split second before going back to the bright, yellow star. “Well, I won’t be able to feel that specific emotion anymore, not until I refuel on more color.”

“Oh,” Frisk whispered to herself. A sudden, almost scary thought entered her mind, "W-What happens if . . . all your colors are grey."

This time, the color in Ink's eye socket flashed a purple triangle, and remained there. "I-I . . . I don't really want to talk about it."

This response worried Frisk, but the skeleton had already changed eye colors and topics before she could really think on what he said. 

“My other colors give my abilities that are pretty similar to what Sans can do. Things like the Gaster Blasters, blue and orange bone bullets, teleportation, gravity magic, stuff like that.”

“That’s really cool,” Frisk grinned as she turned the pendent around in her fingers. Admiring the different colors. What still puzzled Frisk was that there was one color that was entirely empty, 

She asked Ink about it, “Why don’t you have the color green.”

“Because I don’t like to drink that one.”

“How come?”

“It tastes so bitter, like broccoli” Ink’s face scrunched up as the memory of the taste sat on his tongue, “Green is the color of envy, and whenever I take it I have these awful feelings. It’s terrible. I don’t like feeling that way, so I never take my green vial.” 

“But doesn't green allow you to heal people?” Frisk asked, thinking about Toriel’s healing magic and how its green light always felt so caring and safe whenever she scraped her knee or cut her finger by accident.

“No, green gives me the ability to . . .” Ink paused for a moment. His eye changed into a swirl as he tapped his paintbrush on his skull, which left a smear of red paint on his white bones. He either didn’t notice or wasn’t bothered by it, “Huh, I can’t remember. I guess it has been a while.” 

He shook himself out then went back to his painting while he spoke, “But I do know that it doesn’t give me the power to heal. My love does that for me.”

Frisk’s heart skipped a beat, “L-LOVE?”

Ink turned back at the human and saw the fear on her face, “Oh! No! No! No! Not that kind of love! The other kind of love, the one that’s affection and caring for others.”

“Oh, okay.” Frisk smiled shakily as she forced herself to breath slower. “Is that the pink one?” 

“Yep, and it’s my strongest color.”

“How’s that,” Frisk asked, genuinely interested in what the skeleton had to say.

“Love is a super powerful emotion,” Ink explained, “It’s what makes men and women fight for the things they care about. It motivates and empowers them to see their goals through and not give up until they achieve it. Without that motivation, there’d be no reason for them to fight or even exist in the world. The same goes for me too. Pink is my most powerful color because it gives me a reason to protect the multiverse. I love all the stories and characters in each and every universe, and it is this caring that motivates me to guard them with my life and never give up on them. So in a way, love is my most deadly weapon.”

“Wow,” Frisk’s voice was barely a whisper. She stared at the skeleton with awe, “That’s awesome.”

Suddenly, Frisk heard Sans’ iconic chuckle as it echoed through all four levels of the fun house. Alongside it, Papyrus’ groans of annoyance bounced through the walls. Even Ink stopped painting when he heard it.

“When did they come in?” Ink whispered to himself. He dismissed his paint brushes into his inventory and began to walk toward the stairs. Frisk followed close behind, holding onto his scarf that trailed on the ground behind him.

They found both Sans and Papyrus were standing in the room of distorting mirrors. They were looking at two mirrors in particular, and Frisk had to hide a laugh when she saw what they made them look like. 

The mirror that Sans stood in front or distorted his image to make him look much thinner and taller than he really was. He was laughing at his own image, and also the reflection of his brother. Papyrus was staring at his own reflection with disdain. His image was squished down to make him look short and chubby. He almost looked like Sans this way.

His brother seemed to notice this too, and Papyrus was not amused by his insistent laughter, “I DON’T GET IT SANS. HOW IS THIS EVEN FUNNY?”

Sans spoke in between his giggles, “your . . . your so short . . . you really . . . you really are my little brother now.”

“SANS, STOP IT WITH THE PUNS.”

“Sans? Papyrus? When did you get here?” Ink asked the two skeletons as he walked up to them. When they both turned to face him, Frisk abandoned Ink's scarf and ran up to Papyrus and jumped into his arms. The skeleton caught her with ease, pulled her into a bone-crushing hug, then swung her back onto the ground.

“we thought it would be cool to check this place out.” Sans told Ink, “by the way, great job squid. this fun house really lives up to its name.”

“YES, IT TRULY DOES.” Papyrus beamed, “I WAS PARTICULARLY FOND ON THE FIRST FLOOR. ALL THOSE PUZZLES WERE SIMPLY INVIGORATING.”

“Aw, thanks you guys,” Ink blushed slightly, “I just hope that Error sees it.”

“I AM POSITIVELY SURE THAT HE WILL. UNDYNE SAYS THAT YOUR BUILDING IS SO BRIGHT YOU COULD SEE IT FROM SPACE.”

Sans chuckled softly, “hey, you need to try these things out yourself.” he said as he gestured to the mirror he was standing in front of.

"Oh, I don't know." The color on Ink's skull became brighter.

“c’mon," Sans pushed, "just stand right here.”

Sans stepped over to the side and motioned for the other skeleton to come over. When Ink looked into the crazy mirror, the star in his eye became brighter and his smile grew wider as he giggled. His distorted reflection towered over him like a giant. Ink bounced up and down on his feet as he played around with the image.

“Ha! I’m tall now!” he raised his fists over his head in triumph and then looked over at Sans, “Who’s the shorty now?”

The laughter of Frisk and her friends bounced around the room. Lightening up the whole building with its happy energy. But after a while, Frisk saw that Ink’s bright, friendly smile suddenly dropped. The star in his left eye faded away and was replaced with a dark blue raindrop. His posture slumped slightly and his gaze fell down to the floor. 

Frisk’s forehead wrinkled up in concern. She reached out to grab the skeleton’s hand, and when he looked down the blue raindrop transformed into a cyan circle that was very similar to his right eye light.

“Hey, what’s wrong?”

The laughter died as Sans and Papyrus gazed at Ink with concern. For a moment, Ink did nothing, But then, not saying anything, Ink slowly reached into his scarf and pulled out his pendent once again. He showed the human child the colorful heart, and Frisk let out a small gasp.

The segment of the heart where the yellow color should have been had completely greyed out. He didn’t have his joy anymore. He couldn’t feel happy. 

“Oh Ink,” Frisk could feel tears of her own start to sting in her eyes, “I’m so sorry.”

“It’s alright, I’ll be okay.” Ink tucked his pendent back into his scarf, “I knew what I would be sacrificing by building this place. But it had to be done.”

Ink sighed heavily. His eye flickered between light and dark blue, “It’s not so bad, at least my default color after yellow is cyan. Contentment isn’t a terrible feeling. Just . . . kind of bland.”

Frisk knew that the skeleton felt sad about losing his favorite emotion. So she looked down at the hand she held and gave it a reassuring squeeze. As she did this, she realized that the blueish tint in Ink’s bones had faded away, leaving the fingers on that hand a sickly shade of white. And upon closer inspection, she saw that even his light brown fingerless gloves had faded away into a light grey. Frisk thought about asking the skeleton about it, but she stopped once she connected two and two together on her own. She guessed that Ink losing an emotion both affected his personality and his appearance. Apparently, the two were connected. It made sense to her at least.

“sorry dude, that’s a real bummer.” Sans stood next to Ink and patted him on the back in a supportive way.

“NEVER FEAR SMALLER SANS.” Papyrus lifted Ink off the ground so that he could be at his eye level. Frisk stifled a giggle when she saw Ink bewildered expression, “THE GREAT PAPYRUS WILL MAKE SURE YOU GET YOUR HAPPY JUICE BACK.”

“Huh? What do you mean? You can’t-”

Ink was cut short when the whole building began to shake. At first, Frisk thought that it was an earthquake, but then a stream of blue strings shot out from a mirror on the wall, shattering them and creating a huge, gaping hole that opened the room to the outside. Then, the threads latched themselves onto the opposite wall and mirrors. The small group quickly ran over to the opening in the wall and looked outside. 

Frisk’s eyes grew wide at the sight.

It looked like the universe had just opened its window. There was a huge hole in the empty space in front of them, and hundreds of thin, blue strings came shooting out of the portal and attached themselves all over the building.

“You need to get out of here.”

Frisk was startled by the urgency in Ink’s voice. When she looked over at him, she saw that his eye socket was flashing violet.

The building shook again, the sound of glass being smashed made Frisk jump. She snapped her head to the side and watched as the hall of mirrors shattered into a million pieces and scattered dangerously on the ground.

“RUN!”

Without hesitating, Papyrus lifted Frisk and Sans up into his arms and sprinted over the shattered glass and down the colorful stairway, Ink trailing close behind him.

“WHAT IS GOING ON?” Papyrus shouted,

“It’s Error.” Ink replied, “He got my message, and now he’s replying to it.”

“But, he’s destroying you’re fun house!” Frisk’s eyes darted around at the crumbling infrastructure, “I thought he was your friend?”

“He is.” Ink jumped over the last step of the stairs, “He’s just doing his job.”

“IS HIS JOB TERRORIZING US AND TRYING TO KILL US?”

Ink looked up at them, his expression generally neutral, “Pretty much, yeah.”

Frisk and Papyrus stared at Ink incredulously. “Error is the destroyer of AUs.” Ink tried to explain, “He goes through different timelines and dimensions and gets rid of anomalies and anything that doesn’t belong. And right now, what doesn’t belong here is me and this building. So you guys need to get out of here before he pulls you into the Anti-void.”

Papyrus looked down at his brother who was hanging lazily in his hold, “DID YOU KNOW ABOUT THIS!?”

“eh,” Sans shrugged, “i met the guy like once, but i didn’t stick around to get to know him.”

Papyrus groaned as he stepped onto an air jet at the bottom floor. He ignored the gust of wind as it blew right through him and continued to run toward the door. They were almost out. Just a few more steps and then they would be safe.

But then suddenly, Papyrus skidded to a halt. Frisk was confused at first until she saw that Ink was still by the staircase they had just gone down.

“Ink! What are you doing! We need to leave now!” Frisk shouted back,

“I’m not going with you.”

“WHAT!?”

“Right now, Error is my only way to travel between dimensions. He can help me find my vials. I need to stay behind. I’ll be alright, he won’t hurt me. Just keep going.”

Papyrus rushed over to Ink, slipping and sliding on the traps in the ground, “NO, WE WILL NOT LEAVE YOU BEHIND. IF YOU ARE GOING INTO THIS ‘ANTI VOID’ THEN WE WILL BECOMING WITH YOU!”

“No, you can’t. You need to stay in your own universe. You’ll be safer this way.”

“But Ink!”

The skeleton smiled back at Frisk, but it wasn’t like before when it was lit up with electric and cheery personality. It seemed more forced. Like he was really trying, but he just couldn’t get himself to feel the emotion he was reaching for. “I’ll be okay, just go.”

Papyrus hesitated for a moment, but another reassuring nod from Ink was just enough to make him believe his words. He ran out the door and into the sunlight of outside.

Frisk could see Asgore, Toriel, Undyne, and Alphys watching the whole scene with horror from the edge of the grass, debating on whether to get closer or stay put where it was safe. When the small group burst out the door, the entire building began to fall into the hole in the universe. Once they were a safe distance away from the crumbling fun house, Papyrus finally set Frisk on the ground, but he still held onto his brother.

The entire top level of the building had been torn off by the mysterious force, and the strings were already hauling the third level right behind it. The sound of the building being torn apart reminded Frisk of a thunderstorm. Loud and vibrating the air around her. She worried for her friend that was still inside, but she trusted that he would be alright. This was what he wanted, right? He wanted to get in touch with his friend, and he did. Now, he would be able to find his color vials, and he would be able to feel joy again.

Frisk gasped as she felt something tight wrap itself around her soul. A red glow from her chest made her look down, and she inhaled sharply as she looked down at her now manifested soul. It was just like she remembered it, smooth, shiny, and bright. But the thing that unsettled her were the blue threads that had entangled themselves around her heart. This couldn’t be right. She glanced over at Sans and Papyrus for help, but they were dealing with the same problem she was. The two skeletons looked down in shock as they gaped at the blue string that had both of their white, inverted souls trapped in their hold. 

Then, it began to pull them forwards.

Frisk shrieked as her feet were swept underneath her, pulling her through the lawn. She clawed at the grass, trying to fight against the force, but all she managed to do was tear out handfuls of the green blades. Papyrus was trying to do the same thing she was, but he had just as much luck as the human child. Sans had managed to take hold of his brother’s neck and wrapped his arms around him. Hanging on desperately as he groaned in protest of the strings around his soul.

“Guys! Kid!” It was Undyne’s shout she heard. She charged toward them with her blue spear blazing with its sky blue light. She leapt over the skeletons and the human and brought her spear down on the strings that held them captive. Frisk waited for the release of discomfort in her soul, but she felt nothing. She looked back at Undyne and saw her still trying in vain to cut the blue strings in half.

But they wouldn’t.

Then, panic ensued. Toriel rushed over to her child and held her with all of her strength. Asgore then wrapped his arms around his wife andtried with all his might to pull her and his child back to safety. Undyne hastily slashed at the threads in a desperate attempt to make one of them snap. Once she realized that they wouldn’t, she ran over to Papyrus and grabbed onto his hands. Alphys came up and helped her pull against the strings.

This did little to help though, the more her family tried to help, the more her soul ached.

It hurt.

She didn’t like this.

She wanted it to stop.

She wanted-

“Error stop!”

Frisk looked back and saw Ink waving his hands in front of the tear. His eye flashed a red target symbol as he faced the portal head on, “Error!” he yelled, “Leave them alone!”

For a moment, the strings around Frisk’s soul went slightly slack. She turned her head to see that the same had happened to the strings around the souls of Sans and Papyrus. They were all breathing heavily and Sans rolled off his brother’s back and onto the grass, facing up toward the sky. The blue lines hadn’t disappeared, but at least they weren't dragging them to their possible doom anymore. She scrambled back onto her knees and clumsily re-gripped her arms around Toriel. Her mother grasped her almost desperately, and Frisk could feel her tears of relief drip onto her hair.

Undyne lifted Papyrus back onto his feet, which was easy for her both because of her super strength and the fact that the skeleton was very light. Alphys helped Sans get off the ground, but he barely registered her presence, his gaze was locked on the window to the other world and Ink bravely standing tall in front of it.

“They aren't anomalies! They’re from this original timeline! You can’t take them!”

A different voice, one that Frisk had never heard before, boomed out from the portal. It was glitchy and sounded like a broken computer, but Frisk could still understand it, “ **_YOU CAN’T TELL ME WHAT TO DO!”_ **

Suddenly, more thread shot out of the portal. They circled around Ink’s arms and legs then pulled his limbs tight against his body. Losing his balance, he crashed onto the grass, unable to move.

His eyes went dark, “Uh oh.”

The strings were yanked forwards, with Ink along with them. He cried out as he was dragged him through the air. He struggled and squirmed, but it did little to counteract the strength of the person behind the strings. He was quickly pulled through the window and disappeared into the white world of the Anti-void.

Frisk stared in shock. Did that really just happen? Was Ink . . . 

Her soul was jerked forward again. She cried out as she was nearly pulled out of the embrace of her parents. Toriel and Asgore held onto her arms as tight as they could, they even dug their heels into the dirt. But even with their power and strength they found themselves being dragged right alongside with their daughter.

Frisk glanced to the side and saw that her friends were in a similar situation. Undye and Alphys were holding onto Papyrus’ hands like a lifeline while Sans grasped onto his brother as tightly as he could. The smaller skeleton’s eye sockets were dark as he inspected the strings around his soul. 

The strings were strained under the pressure of the two opposing forces, but they weren’t breaking under that stress. And Frisk could easily guess that they wouldn’t. 

She looked back and saw the last of Ink’s fun house breaking down and being pulled through the portal. It was like it had never existed in the first place. But as the last, colorful piece of the building disappeared on the other side, more blue strings shot out and latched onto the souls of the human and the skeletons.

The pull was stronger now. It wasn’t giving up. What could she do? She was stuck between a rock and a hard place. Ink was already lost. How was she supposed to escape?

“guys . . . let go.”

“What!?”

“let go.” Sans repeated himself, “error only wants the three of us. we’re going in anyway, so there's no point in dragging this out any longer.”

“Sans, I am _not_ letting my child go!” Toriel shouted angrily due to the stress of the situation.

“toriel,” Sans’ voice was low and reassuring, “i promise you. no matter what universe that we might end up in, i will protect frisk with my life. trust me, just let go.”

“Hell no, punk. We’re a family, and we do things together. We’re not throwing you away that easily,” Undyne shouted at Sans, “Right Papyrus?”

The lanky skeleton didn’t respond, his bones rattled quietly. Undyne tried again, “Papyrus?”

Papyrus’ grip loosened slightly in Undyne’s hands. Her single eye grew wide and she held on tighter, “Papyrus, don’t you dare!” she hissed,

Papyrus couldn’t meet the blue monster’s gaze. He looked down at his brother, who was groaning under the strain of the opposing forces on his soul, “Brother, are you sure about this?”

“PAPYRUS! DON’T YOU DARE LISTEN THAT NUMBSKULL! THAT’S AN ORDER!”

“yes, just let go. we’ll go into this together. do you trust me?”

“SANS! PAPYRUS!”

Papyrus looked up at Undyne, his voice cracked as he spoke, “I’m sorry.”

Then, his hands become limp in Undyne’s grip.

“NO!”

Even though both Undyne and Alphys both held onto the skeleton’s wrist with all their strength, he still slipped between their fingers. Sans hadn’t tried to loosen his hold around Papyrus. The brothers were determined to go into the strange world together. It wasn’t long before the skeletons had completely slipped out of the hands of their friends. Undyne shouted out in rage as the Sans and Papyrus were pulled back by the mysterious force, through the tear in space, and vanished into the other world

Undyne ran after them, but she crashed into an invisible wall that blocked her from entering. Even when she tried to break it with her spear it did little good. The portal wouldn’t let her pass. It wouldn’t let her get to the Sans or Papyrus.

They were gone.

Frisk barely had time to feel sad over this fact. The tightness around Frisk soul became more intense. She cried out as it changed from painful to burning.

Toriel and Asgore still held on, they left large grooves in the lawn as they tried to hold fast to their child. Frisk could feel her spine and the joints in her arms popping under the pressure. Pain bloomed in her soul and her breaths became shallow and quick. Whoever was pulling the strings was really trying to bring her into the void.

With tears in her eyes, she looked up at her family. Undyne and Alphys had quickly rushed over to support the two boss monsters in their struggle to keep Frisk away from the unknown force. She was awfully close to the window now. 

She thought about what Sans said. Was he speaking the truth? Was resistance futile? Or did he just give up too easily? But then again, Papyrus had willingly followed Sans into the void, and he usually never let his brother give up so easily. Unless he was right.

Frisk could feel the relentless nature of the strings on her soul. They would never ease up until they got what they want. If she never let go, would the threads tear her soul to pieces? Would she still be able to reset if that happened, or would the powerful magic of the strings prevent her from doing so, and in the process kill her permanently?

Frisk let out a stuttered breath. She didn’t want to let go. She didn’t want to leave her mom, her dad, her friends, her home. But it didn’t look like she really had a choice.

She hated having to give up like this . . . but was she really throwing in the towel? Or was she really just rolling with the punches, going with the flow, adapting to the situation?

She didn’t really know, but she did know that she couldn’t keep up with this game of tug-of-war much longer. It needed to end, one way or another. And she honestly preferred the way that meant she was still alive.

Painfully, Frisk looked up at her friends, who were still hanging onto her. It killed her to say the words she had to say. “You have let me go.”

“No!” Toriel said firmly, “I will not let you leave me again.”

“Are you insane!?” Undyne yelled, “I’m not losing you too!”

“Th-there has to be another w-way, th-there just _has_ to be.” Alphys stuttered,

“We will not give up on you!” Asgore spoke with strength,

“It’s no use.” Frisk groaned under the pressure, “Look at me. I’m trapped, and there’s no way I can escape this. I promise that I’ll be fine. Sans will look after me, and I can take care of myself.” 

Frisk whined as the ache in her body became more intense, “P-Please, trust me. I promise I’ll come back to you. Just let me go.”

Toriel cried silently as she realized that her child was right, her grip reluctantly loosened as her tears trickled down her face. Frisk could see that this was tearing her soul in half, but Sans was right. They had to deal with the problem head on to get back. And right now, her main problem resided inside on the other side of that portal.

“I love you, my child,” Toriel sobbed, “Please, be good.”

“Frisk,” Asgore spoke gently, though Frisk could see tears welling up on the borders of his eyes, “Stay determined . . .”

Frisk sniffled, “I-I will. I love you too.”

Then, finally, Toriel’s shaky hand’s loosened around her daughter. Frisk was yanked forcefully into the portal. She held back a scream in her throat so she would not worry her parents and friends. The last thing she saw was Asgore holding the distraught Toriel as she cried into his chest. Undyne pounded the ground in anger and spewed out a string of curse words. Alphys had curled into herself and covered her face with her claws, crying silently. 

It broke Frisk’s heart to see them like this, but the thought of her coming back to them soon, and being held in their loving embrace, it filled her with determination.

Then, the portal finally collapsed on itself, cutting her off from her family, and she was left suspended by the strings around her soul in a world that was vastly different from the one she had grown to love.

It was so quiet. She was almost afraid to speak in fear of breaking the silence. Nothing surrounded her. it was just white as far as the eye could see. Everywhere she looked the vast whiteness made up the whole world. It wasn’t until she looked up that she saw something different, and truly horrifying.

Hanging above her head were what looked like hundreds of thousands of red souls tangled up in the same blue strings she was. She had seen those soul before. She saw them every time she looked at her own. She could feel it, and there was no doubt in her mind.

Somehow, exact copies of her soul were being held prisoner in this awful, deserted world.

She felt her heart rate become more rapid. Not wanting to attract the attention of her captor, she whispered loudly into the empty void for the skeletons that had been dragged in before her. “Sans! Papyrus! Ink!”

“hey kiddo, ya hangin’ in there?”

Her eyes darted to the source of the voice, and to her relief she found Sans dangling in the strings not far along beside her. Smirking tensely in an attempt to lighten the mood.

“Human Frisk, are you alright?” Papyrus was hanging next to his brother, swinging slightly due to his naturally restless nature.

“Yeah, I’m okay.” Frisk whispered, “Where’s Ink?”

Both the skeleton brothers looked down below them, and Frisk followed their gaze. Her voice was caught in their throat when she saw Ink on the ground underneath them. He had been freed from his bindings, but he was far from safe. 

Because in front of him, there was another skeleton.

And he didn’t look very nice.

Once again, Frisk noticed that he looked a lot like Sans. The same skull shape and build of her friend, but that was where the similarities ended. This skeleton’s formed seemed to glitch and shudder with every movement he made. Instead of a pearly white, his bones were as black as onyxes. His right pupil was dilated, his eyes were blood red, and they seemed to leak blue magic like streams of tears. He wore black shorts, a blue hoodie that faded to black in the sleeves, and a red sweater underneath. And entwined around his gloved fingers were the exact same blue strings that had Frisk, Sans, and Papyrus held up by their souls.

She silently wondered to herself how many Sanses there were in the multiverse.

The glitchy Sans stared at Ink with a wicked smile, _**“THANKS A LOT INK,”**_ he said, gazing up at Frisk and the skeleton brothers, holding onto their strings tightly, _**“FOR GETTING ME NEW PUPPETS TO PLAY WITH.”**_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> * Look up what a Ames Room is.
> 
> Ink belongs to @comyet  
> Error belongs to @loverofpiggies  
> Art by me: https://www.deviantart.com/princess-jaybird


	5. Adder

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Took me awhile, but I finally got this chapter done. Now let's see what the bad guys are up to.

Cross fell back against the stump of the dead tree, sliding his feet through the frigid snow as he sat down for the first time that day. His breaths were hard and labored from all the running he had done. He rubbed his tired eyes in fatigue and frustration. He really needed a break, but he couldn’t afford one now.

Those vials could still be anywhere.

He grabbed a notebook from his pocket and opened it to the first page. He quickly read through his writing inside.

~~ Abysstale ~~

~~ Asylumtale ~~

~~ Echotale ~~

~~ Endertale ~~

~~ Horrortale ~~

~~ Outertale ~~

~~ Undervirus ~~

~~ Underlust ~~

Underfell

He looked at the last word annoyedly. He pulled out a pencil and pressed it onto the paper so hard it almost tore through though it.

~~ Underfell ~~

With a grunt, he threw his pencil into his little book and stuffed it back into his pocket. His head fell into his hands as he dragged them across his face. “nothin’. absolutely nothin’. what a waste of time.”

He was a waste of time, and a waste of space too. How did he even get stuck in this mess?

All he wanted was to get his world back, to be with his friends again, to be with his Papyrus again. Was that too much to ask?

Apparently it was, because now he was blindly jumping through universes and getting attacked by the Red and Edge who threatened to use his dust as kindling for their fires. All because that stupid migit decided to be a hero.

Cross groaned as he brushed his hands across his face. He really should be going again. He didn’t want another run in with another unsavory Underfell character.

He started to push himself up from the stump, but then he heard a voice resonate from the woods.

It seemed to surround him, “how goes the hunt, cross?”

A pool of black sludge suddenly formed at the skeleton’s feet. And then, something dark began to rise from it, like a poorly depicted swamp monster from a horror film. The further up it rose, the more familiar the monster’s form became until it made the shape of a short skeleton like himself. The slugey skeleton stared down at Cross, his eyes narrow and a grin spread wide across his face.

“what do ya want?” Cross scowled at Nightmare, “i’m kinda busy here.”

“is that any way to say hi?” Nightmare said sarcastically, “you would think someone would teach you better manners.” Cross scowled at his supposed leader, standing up from his tree trunk and walking past Nightmare.

He wished the dark skeleton would stay out of his business. He didn’t even like his all that much. The only reason Nightmare had any control over Cross was because he had convinced him to join his gang when Cross was at the weakest point in his life. Ever since then, he had been hazed, picked on, and pranked by all the other members of the group. He hated them all so much, he couldn’t even begin to describe the burning fire that ate at his soul whenever he had to go ‘home’.

If he had only been a little bit more careful, maybe Nightmare would have never figured out about this job he had. Maybe he would have never insisted he have a cut in the deal. Maybe he would have left him alone so he could actually do his job. But sadly, he did find out, he did want a part, and he was never going to leave him alone.

Cross didn’t want any help if it came from Nightmare. His ‘help’ usually ended up in broken ribs and burning houses. That wasn’t what Cross needed right now. He just needed to find the vials and return them to the boss. That way, he would finally get what he wanted, and he would never have to see Nightmare, or the rest of his gang, ever again.

As Cross started to walk off, Nightmare grabbed onto his shoulder. “Alright, enough beating around the bush, I came because adder wanted me to get you.”

Cross sucked in his breath. Dangit, he knew, “i’m not ready to see him just yet.” Cross said, not meeting Nightmare’s gaze, “tell him that i have a few more errands to run, or somethin’.”

Black tentacles tentacles wrapped around the skeleton’s throat and torso. The slimy arms constricted around his neck and ribs, slightly choking him as he was lifted into the air and forced to face Nightmare.

“how humorous.” Nightmare chuckled at the overused pun, “you think you have a choice. that’s very funny, he is very insistent that you speak to him. now.”

The squid-like arms pushing out of the gooey skeleton tightened around Cross, threatening to snap his neck in half.

Cross let out a strangled chuckle, “well . . . w-who am i to d-deny what he wa-nts?”

“exactly.”

Nightmare’s form began to melt. As he turned into a puddle of slime once again, and his long tentacle pulled Cross into the sludge along with him. Cross shut his eyes and took in a deep breath into his ribcage before his head was pulled under. The world around him suddenly became dark, wet, and silent. Cross didn’t dare to open his eyes, knowing that if he did the sludge would just pool into his sockets and fill his skull with the dark liquid.

Soon though, the time it took to travel between universes was taking too long for the skeleton. His throat began to tickle as he ran out of breath. He struggled in the tentacles grasp as the feeling in his ribcage went from an unpleasant tickle to a burning fire.

He couldn’t breath!

He couldn’t breath!

Then finally, after what seemed like an eternity of agony, Cross resurfaced from the slime. He breathed in sharply, getting as much of the sweet, musty air into his ribcage as he could. He barely registered that he wasn’t in the Snowdin forest anymore and that instead he was in a dark hallway that was barely lit up by torches on the walls. Nightmare dropped him onto the cold, hard ground, and Cross propped himself onto his hands and knees as he struggled to control his breathing again.

Cross glared up at Nightmare, who had knelt down before him and watched as he suffered. A smile was spread wide across his face. Cross was furious at the other skeleton. He had almost drowned, and now Nightmare was basking in his pain.

Of course he is. Cross thought to himself. Nightmare literally fed off of other people’s misery. It was how he got his strength. Even at his castle, he made sure to give his own minions hell every day just to feed of their misery.

Cross felt the fire of anger burn deeper within his soul.

“couldn’t we-” Cross coughed as he choked on his own words. He tried again, “couldn’t we have gone through one of my portals?”

“yes, but my was is much more fun. for me.” Nightmare chuckled as he patted Cross’ head in a patronizing way, “watching you squirm was a delight.”

Cross just glared at the other skeleton. He rolled his eyes then pushed himself back onto his feet. “well, now that you’re done houndin’ me, why don’t we just get this over with.”

“my thoughts exactly.” Nightmare walked ahead of Cross, making his way toward a pair of large, dark purple doors, “c’mon then. you know adder doesn’t like to be kept waiting.”

The two skeletons walked up the long corridor and up to the large doors, pushing them open enough for them to slip past. They were greeted with a dimly lit room that was shaped similarly like King Asgore’s throne room in the Underground, except there were no windows streaming golden light onto the floor, no golden flowers sprouting up from the ground, and the room was empty save for a tall clocked being surrounded by four floating screens standing standing in the center.

The man staring intently at his number-filled screens wore a long, dark blue coat with a hood that was very similar to what the Riverperson in the original Undertale wore. The only difference between the two was that this man’s coat had several red patches sewn on and seemed to glitch in certain places. Strings of code sputtered off the man, disappearing then reappearing without a fixed pattern.

His gaze flicked between his multiple floating screens, making one of them disappear into the air when he didn’t need it anymore, then turning to another one and begin to study the words that one.

For a moment Cross thought he didn’t notice the two of them entering. But then, before Cross could truly process what was happening, Adder lunged at him, grabbing onto his shirt and lifting him high up into the air so that he could be at eye level with him. Cross stared into his burning red eyes, and immediately knew that he was dead bones.

“You have failed me Cross.”

Cross chuckled nervously, “y-you know ‘bout that, huh?”

“Nothing happens in the multiverse that I don’t know about.” he glared murderously at the skeleton in his clutches. Adder threw Cross onto the floor, and then suddenly, a large, sharp scythe appeared in his hands. He looked down at the skeleton, his face was slack and neutral, but his eyes shone with fury.

“woah! adder? c’mon dude. let’s be reasonable here.” Cross said with a bit of panic in his voice as Adder came closer to him. He crab crawled away from the man of code until he was backed up to the wall with no where else to go.

He was trapped.

Adder loomed over him, his weapon high above his head, ready to be brought down. Cross tried reasoning with him again, “look, i-i know i messed up, but i can still get the vials. i-i mean, i don’t know exactly where they are, but i can find them. i’ll find them! i promise!”

Adder swung his scythe down, and Cross closed his eyes, waiting for the stab of pain to erupt from his sternum as the serrated blade ripped through his soul.

CLANG

For a moment, all Cross could hear were his own shuddered breaths. But confusion soon settled in when he realized that the sound came from the side rather than right in front of him. He slowly opened his eyes to see the scythe’s blade embedded into the thick, stone wall on his right. Just inches away from his head.

“That was just a warning,” Adder said, peering down at Cross, “Next time, it goes through your soul.” He yanked his weapon out of the wall then dismissed it back into his inventory. He then turned away from the skeleton and walked back to the center of the vast room.

Cross let out a shuddering sigh of relief as he looked at the crack the blade had made in the stone. He quickly regained his composure and pushed himself off the wall and back up to his feet. Then, he walked up to Adder and stood next to him. “th-thanks.”

“Do not thank me. You are nothing more than an errand boy to me,” Adder brought up another large screen into the empty space in front of the two of them. On the screen, Cross was able to see himself, and Ink, in the midst of their fight that happened less than a day ago.

Cross always wondered how Adder was able to do this, create these little windows of the past and present, but the only explanation he could come up with was that it was simply just his magic.

He his his face with his hand as he watched his past self stumbled backwards to catch the yellow vial Ink just threw. Then the perspective shifted over to Ink as he pulled off his work belt and use his brush to create a paint portal. He looked uncertain as he held the vials over the paint puddle.

“And even then it seems like you can't do your job right.” The image continued, and Cross appeared in front of Ink, grasping his wrist as he tried to grab the vials. Cross knew what happened next. A quick kick in the ribs was all it took to give Ink the time he needed to drop the sash into the puddle, and out of his reach. “I send you to get all the emotion vials, filled to the brim with Ink’s paint, but instead you bring me this useless, empty one.”

Adder pulled the yellow emotion vial out from his sleeve. Cross gaped at it. He was sure he had kept it stored in his inventory. But when he checked, he realized that it had indeed been taken out. More of Adder’s ‘unique’ magic.

Adder glared down at the skeleton, “You knew how vital Ink’s magic is to my plan, and yet you let them slip from your grasp so easily.”

“c’mon adder, you know that it wasn’t entirely my fault.” Cross said as he gestured at the images on the screen as they continue, “besides, this is an easy fix. all we gotta do is jump over to ink’s universe and find out where he keeps all his yellow stuff. and while we’re at it, why don’t we just get the other color there too. it would make my job a whole lot easier.”

Adder waved his hand, and the screen once again blinked out of existence, leaving the air empty and stale.“That is not possible now, Cross,” he hissed, “By now, the Creator’s Fountain will have gone dry. We couldn’t even get a drop of color out of it now.”

Cross glared skeptically at Adder, “and you know this, how?”

Adder looked down at Cross and gave him a smile that chilled him to the bone.“I have some influence in the Creator’s world, and I might have persuaded a few of them to take a break from their projects.”

“right.” Cross avoided the man’s gaze that seemed to read his soul, “so, was there a point in comin’ here, or did you just want to chew me out.”

“Of course there was a reason.” Adder scoffed, “I always have a reason for what I do. The situation has changed, so the plan must change as well. Cross,” The skeleton stood up straight at the sound of his name, “You will continue your search for the vials. I want you to look everywhere for them. Every universe. Even the most unlikely ones. And don’t come back until you’ve found them. As for you, Nightmare.”

The dark skeleton, who had been quietly watching near the doorway the whole time, looked up at Adder. “Since you insist on being here, then you will also be assigned a task.” The man rolled the golden vial he held between his stuttering fingers,“If we can’t get any joy from this vial, then we’ll need to find an alternative source.”

“i assume you have a plan?” Nightmare questioned.

“As a matter of fact, I do.” Adder smiled at the skeleton, the color on his body seemed to glitch and swirl with its dark colors, “We will need to extract the joy from another living being.”

Cross looked up at the man with suspicion in his eye sockets,“and how are we gonna do that?”

“Leave that to me.” Adder said, turning back to Nightmare, “The only thing you need to worry about is getting me the right ‘volunteer.’ They need to be a being whose elation and optimism is unlike anyone else’s in the multiverse.”

“i think i know just the guy you’re looking for,” he replied with a mischievous smile, “and I even know how to get him to come to us.”

“Good. Then what are you waiting for?” he hissed at both skeletons, “Find them. Obtain them. Destroy anyone who gets in your way. But you must bring them back to me whole. With their magic still intact.”

Adder then turned his focus back onto Cross, “Do this for me, and I promise that you will see your world, your friends, and your brother again.”

A ghost of a smile brushed Cross’ face, “you got it boss.”

“But,” Adder’s red eyes flared with anger, “Fail me again, and I will have you wishing that you were never born.”

Cross chuckled solemnly, “buddy, i’ve been wishin’ for a long time now.”

Adder did not reply to this. He walked away from the skeletons and made his way to a door located further back in the room. “I will expect you two to be back here in two days time, with the vials and my volunteer.” He said, not facing either of them as he turned the handle of the dark, wooden door. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have much to get done, and little time to do it.”

Then he slammed the door behind him.

“thanks for nothin’ back there.” Cross grumbled once he was sure Adder couldn’t hear them anymore. "but then again, I bet you would have loved to see me become a skele-bob, wouldn't ya?"

“oh please, don’t be such a baby bones, i knew he wouldn’t have hurt you. if he was going to stab you, i would have beaten him to it.”

Cross just rolled his eyes then turned back to Nightmare, who was already preparing himself to jump between AUs. “hey! where do ya think you’re goin’?”

“it will be easier to find what we’re searching for if we split up. Now be a good errand boy and go find those vials. as for me . . .” Nightmare turned back at Cross and gave him a mischievous smile, “i think i’m long overdue for a visit with my little brother.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Edit: Changed a few things in this chapter. When I was first writing this, I hadn't really figured out who Adder's character was. Now that I have a better understanding, I decided that I needed to rewrite his introductory chapter, just a little bit. I hope that you like it.
> 
> Cross: @jakeiartwork  
> Nightmare belongs to @jokublog  
> Adder belongs to me :)  
> Art by me: https://www.deviantart.com/princess-jaybird


	6. Ink Vs. Sans

The moment Error’s blue strings wrapped around their souls, Sans knew they were all in deep trouble. He had only met Error one time, but it had been long enough for him to know that the guy was bad news. 

He called himself the destroyer of AUs, and dedicated his life to the destruction of anything he considered a ‘mistake’ or a ‘glitch’. And now, in the insane skeleton’s eyes . . . 

Him, Papyrus, Frisk . . . 

They were all glitches.

Sans inspected the blue strings that were tangled around his fully summoned soul. The little, inverted heart let off a faint cyan glow around the pressure points of the threads. 

Sans knew that there was no escape from Error’s magic strings. Wimpy though they looked, they were actually stronger than steel, tungsten, and chromium combined and lighter than Muffet’s silk. As far as Sans knew, there was no magic or physical object that could break the hold he now had on them. 

They’d have to find some other way to free themselves.

Sans’ gaze turned back down at the scene that laid beneath them. Neither Ink nor Error had moved in the last five minutes. They just watched each other, carefully inspecting each other’s movements. 

“What are you doing?” Ink said, his voice remained neutral despite the clear anger he felt. A red target icon blazed brightly in his eye.

**_“YOU KNOW ME.”_** Error shrugged smugly, ** _“I JUST LOVE HANGIN’ AROUND MY ANTI-VOID. PLAYING WITH MY PUPPETS.”_**

Frisk gasped next to Sans as the strings around her soul tightened. Her red heart glowed brighter in response of the added pressure. Her limbs curled in close to her body as she closed her eyes tightly, trying to suppress the urge to scream in pain.

“FRISK!” Papyrus exclaimed in concern for his friend. He reached out for her, but there wasn't much he could do being tied up himself. Then, the taller skeleton’s pure, white soul also began emitting a light orange glow. He yelped as the strings dug deeper into the fragile surface of his soul.

The magic in Sans’ bones boiled. He glared down at Error, who was looking up at them, smiling as he watched Papyrus and Frisk wriggle in pain. He watched Sans carefully, almost daring him to say something. Daring him to find out what would happen if he did. Sans only stayed quiet because he knew the sick, glitchy skeleton was just waiting for a reason to give him pain. But he wouldn’t give it to him.

“Stop that.” Ink said, staring only at Error.

**_“WHY SHOULD I?”_** Error smirked, **_“DO YOU NOT LIKE IT WHEN I DO THAT?”_**

Ink’s stare became cold, “Error, you know that this is in violation of our deal.”

**_“SO WAS THAT BIG, UGLY BUILDING I TORE DOWN, BUT THAT DIDN’T STOP YOU FROM MAKING IT.”_** Error shot back. A smile brushed across his face as he held up his string-entwined hands, **_“NOW WE’RE EVEN.”_**

Ink rolled his eyes, “Just let them go, Error.”

**_“NO! THEY’RE MINE!”_ **

“You are acting really childish right now!”

**_“I KNOW YOU ARE BUT WHAT AM I!”_ **

Ink glared at the dark skeleton, “Error please, they have nothing to do with us.” Ink took in a deep breath, and the red in his eye faded away into a light blue. He looked at Error with a soft expression, “I really need your help.”

Error scoffed, **_“YEAH RIGHT, THIS IS JUST ANOTHER ONE OF YOUR TRICK.”_** His fingers danced as he played around with the threads of magic, **_“YOU WANT ME TO LOWER MY DEFENSES SO YOU CAN GET A CHEAP SHOT ON ME. WELL, GUESS WHAT BUCKO, THAT AIN’T HAPPENIN’ TWICE!”_**

Error brought one of his hands down.  Sans could feel the gravity increase on him as the strings slackened around him. He crashed on the floor, losing a few, meager decimal points of health in the process. Above him, he could hear Frisk and Papyrus calling his name, but the erupting pain in his legs made it difficult for him to focus on their voices.

Sans pushed himself back onto his feet, then looked up at his brother and the kid. They smiled in their relief, but Sans could still see the worry etched on their faces. 

Sans smiled at them and gave them a thumbs up. This was mostly to reassure them that he was fine, but it was also for himself too, to try and convince himself that he was going to be okay as well. But he knew he wasn’t.

If Error had decided to bring him down at his level, it was no doubt because he was going to be apart some nefarious game of his.

Sans turned to the other skeletons. Error was smiling at him, his body twitching excitedly. 

Ink was looking at him with a face full of dread. His eye was flashing violet as his gaze switched between Sans and Error.

“Error, w-what do you think your doing?” he asked Error, uncertainly.

Not answering the question, Error pulled his hand forward. This made the strings around Sans’ soul yank him into the space between the dark skeleton and Ink. 

Ink took a few steps back from Sans. He stared at him nervously, with his feet speed apart and his hands defensively in front of him. He looked like he was expecting to be attacked at any second.

But that was crazy, right? Sans didn’t want to fight. In fact, he would normally do anything else to avoid confrontation. 

He reached out his hand toward Ink, giving him a friendly, nonthreatening smile. He wasn’t going to hurt him. He would never hurt his friend.

Suddenly, Sans felt his eye lights go dark as an invasive presence tore through his soul. He gasped as he felt like he was being thrown out of the driver's seat of his mind and tossed into the back seat. His vision became blurry, and he suddenly found that he wasn’t able to see Ink anymore, no matter how hard he squinted. He was just a big, blurry, colorful blob right in front of him. 

Then he took a clumsy step forward.

He hadn’t meant to do that.

He took another step, and another, and another. Getting closer and closer to Ink. Ink kept stepping back from his friend, but Sans continued to advance. 

He felt his magic in his marrow getting warmer as an attack was prepared against his will.

“SANS!?” Papyrus’ voice echoed in the emptiness of the Anti-void. “WHAT ARE YOU DOING!?”

“i don’t know!”

“THEN STOP IT!”

Sans tried. He tried to tell his legs to stop. He tried to diminish his magic in his soul. He tried to call back the magic construct that was forming behind him. 

But he couldn’t.

“i-i can’t!” Sans’ soul fluttered with panic, “i can’t stop it! papyrus-!”

**_“SHUT UP!”_ **

Sans’ soul burned as the strings constricted around his soul, chocking back the words in his throat. The pain was so blinding that he just wanted to collapse on the ground. But he had no control over his own body anymore. 

He really was Error’s puppet now.

He kept walking toward Ink, and his form was becoming less blurry the closer he got to the colored blob. He could almost make out the scared look on his face.

He could feel the blue threads digging into the magic in his soul and preparing one of his attacks. Then, he heard a familiar growl behind him. He tried to look back, but he couldn’t make his head obey him anymore. 

Sans didn’t need to see it though. He knew what was behind him, even without seeing it. The telltale charging sound was enough evidence for him to piece together the facts.

“i-ink.” Sans managed to gasp out through Error’s control. He could hear his large blaster skull building up the hire in its maw. “run.”

If it were even possible, the stark white world became brighter as Sans' blaster shot out a hot, blue laser from its muzzle. It flared toward Ink, but he dodged it by flying high into the air, then rolling as he landed back on the ground. He was up again in seconds, his feet apart and his stance defensive.

He summoned a barrage of orange colored bone bullets and pushed them Sans’ way. This was clever of the small skeleton. Orange magic was easy to dodge. All he had to do to not take damage was to keep moving. And if they were lucky, one of those bullets would hit Error, who was standing still as he pulled on Sans’ strings.

Sans tried to veer over to the right, but his feet were cemented onto the ground. He almost forgot that he wasn’t in control. His soul skipped a beat. Time seemed to slow down as the bone bullets came closer to him. 

He tried to summon his own magic to block the attack, but he couldn’t reach into his magical reserves.

And closer.

In a desperate attempt, Sans tried to pull away. He used every ounce of his will power to tell his legs to _move_. 

But . . . 

Too close!

The orange bone collided with his weak, fragile body. Everyone in the room seemed to gasp all at once as the impact sent him flying across the room. He crashed onto the floor, leaving a trail of red blood as he rolled to a stop. The hot sting of the magic burned Sans’ cracked and broken ribs. He could feel his HP lowering rapidly as he laid there, motionless.

0.9 . . . 0.8 . . . 0.7 . . . 0.6 . . . 0.5 . . .

Sans knew he was dying. Any moment now, his soul would crack and his body would slowly crumble away into a fine dust. 

But what about Papyrus? What about Frisk? How were they supposed to get home? What would happen to them after he died? Would Error use them as his own, personal weapons too? Sans couldn’t bear the thought of his brother being used that way, and he knew Frisk would rather die than be possessed again.

Darkness began to seep into the edges of Sans’ vision. He tried to fight it off, but he was just to tired.

He waited patiently for the last decimal to hit zero and releasing him from the throbbing pain he felt.

. . . 0.4 . . . 0.3 . . .

. . . 0.4 . . . 0.5 . . . 0.6 . . . 0.7 . . . 0.8

Sans was surprised when his arms pushed his body off the floor. “w _hat?”_ Sans thought to himself. His HP was increasing steadily now. _“how am i-”_ He couldn’t look down, but the sparkling feeling in his small heart confirmed his unasked question. 

Healing magic. Error was pouring healing magic into his soul through the blue strings that were tethered to him. He was keeping him alive.

Just so he could fight again. 

Sans’ head slowly turned, and was surprised to find Ink hovering over to him. He could see him clearly now that he was so close. The smaller skeleton must have rushed over to try and help him during the time Sans laid dying on the floor.

That was a mistake.

“Oh, thank the creators!”  Ink gasped in relief, water glistened in his eye sockets, “Classic, I’m so sorry. I thought Error would-”

Sans lunged at Ink, summoning one of his jagged white bones in his hands and bringing it down at him. The smaller skeleton reflexively defended himself, despite being caught off guard. He summoned another orange bullet, this time holding it in front of him like a shield to deflect Sans’ attack. He pushed Sans away, but he kept coming at him. 

Sans threw a dozen of his bones at a time recklessly, without any kind of pattern whatsoever. Ink dodged most of them flawlessly, but occasionally one of the bullets would get too close for him to maneuver. In those cases, he would summon a few of his own orange bullets to cancel out the magic. 

Every once in a while, Ink’s magic would accidentally take some health from Sans, and he would feel like he was dying all over again. But Error’s strings made sure that he stayed alive and in his control.

. . . Control

This is what Sans usually prided in himself. Control over his emotions. Control in battle. But now, all of that had been stripped away.

And it terrified Sans.

More than death. 

What could Error make him do now that he was literally pulling the strings? What would he make him do if he did manage to defeat Ink? Sans knew it would be nothing good.

The fight between the skeletons went on for a long time , Sans on offensive, Ink on defensive. The wear of the prolonged battle was taking its toll on Sans. His breathing was harsh and ragged, his movements were becoming slow and sluggish, and huge bullets of sweat rolled down his skull. They dripped from his chin and made his torn, blood-stained clothes even wetter.

Sans was exhausted, and no amount of healing magic could fix that. His stamina wasn’t good in a regular battle, and he had crossed his limit nearly eleven turns ago. He wanted to pass out and take a long nap, but Error’s strings wouldn’t let him.

Another wave of orange bullets charged toward Sans as Ink defended himself agains one of Sans’ blasters. They tore straight through the monstrous skull, turning it to ash and sending it back into Sans’ soul to regenerate. Some of the bullets made it past the blaster and were now headed toward Sans. 

His tired legs moved to jump out of the way, but they slipped beneath him at the last second. Three orange bullet pierced Sans as he collapsed onto the ground. The sharp stab was soon relieved with more green magic, and he was reluctantly back on his feet in seconds.

“Classic!” Ink cried out, “Classic, I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to . . .” Ink faltered off, then he looked past his possessed friend and back at the puppet master behind him, “Error please! Can’t you see you’re hurting him!”

**_“HE’S FINE. LOOK AT HIM.”_** Error forced a smile on Sans’ face, but you only had to look in his eyes to know that it wasn’t sincere, **_“HE’S NEVER BEEN BETTER.”_**

Ink pause, then his red target icon flared in his eye once again. “I don’t have time for this!” He shouted angrily as he stomped his foot on the ground, “Error I really need your help! I’m through playing your games!”

Sans could feel Error’s cold stare even from behind him. It sent a chill down his spine. **_“WHO SAID THIS WAS A GAME?”_**

Ink’s eyes grew wide. Sans ran toward him again, but this time, Ink jumped over the possessed skeleton’s head. He landed behind him, then he focused his magic directly at Error. The dark skeleton only had time to command Sans to turn around before a dark blue glow protruded out of his ribcage and Ink’s gravity magic brought him down on his knees.

He couldn’t control Sans in this state, which was a relief, but he still had a hold on the skeleton. Sans still couldn’t move his body, so all he could do was watch as the blurry image of Ink prepared to strike Error with an orange bone he held in one of his hands.

“Let him go.” Ink said, his arm shaking slightly as he held the attack over his head.

Error chuckled at the small skeleton, **_“C’MON, WE BOTH KNOW YOU’RE NOT GONNA DO IT. YOU LITERALLY DON’T HAVE THE GUTS.”_**

“I-I’ll do it. I-I will.”

**_“THEN WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR?”_** Error smirked,

Ink trembled so much his bones began to rattle softly. For a moment, Sans thought he he would actually do it. But then, the orange bone in his hand shivered, then fizzled out into magic dust. Ink lowered his hands in front of him.

Error smiled triumphantly, **_“YOU SEE, I KNEW YOU COULDN’T DO IT.”_**

Violet flashed in Ink’s eye, “I-I . . . I d-didn’t mean to do that.” he tried to push more of his magic out, but none came.

Error’s eyes went wide as he stared blankly at Ink’s hands. 

Ink worriedly looked down at his hands too, and saw that t he dull, muted color in his right arm was quickly spreading up toward his shoulder. From where he stood, Sans noticed that the skeleton’s shoes were even losing their vibrance now. 

When Ink realized this, he stumbled back in alarm. He clutched his fading hand as his breaths became shaky. He brushed his other hand across his arm, but then yelped in surprise when he found that it too was turning grey. Ink held his hands as far away from his body as he could, staring at them in horror as he hyperventilated.

Suddenly, Sans’ eye lights relit themselves in his eye sockets as Error’s presence in his soul faded away. The room shook and swerved beneath him and he collapsed to the ground, shocked and exhausted. He closed his eyes as he gasped air like a fish out of water. The strings were still wrapped dangerously around the small heart, so they made it difficult for him to fully relax. 

“SANS!” the skeleton could hear his brother yelling above him. He carefully peeked behind his eyelids. His vision was bleary, but this was more due to him being over worked than Error’s eyes taking over his own. After blinking a few times, he was able to see somewhat clearly again. With his own eye sockets. 

Sans was too tired to get up, so he turned his head slightly back in the direction he knew the other skeletons were. 

He saw that Ink had released his blue hold on Error during his panic attack and the dark skeleton was standing again, but he wasn’t moving. He just stared at Ink in shock.

**_“I-INK?”_** he said uncertainly,

The skeleton in question snapped his head toward Error, his eye suddenly flaring red as he forgot his previous dilemma and stomped closer to him. 

Once he got at least a foot away from Error’s face,  Ink angrily flailed his arms about, like he was trying to explain something but had lost the ability to talk. He just made random grunts and noises in his fury. 

Sans let out a soft, tired chuckle at the sight of the tiny skeleton chewing out the destroyer of AUs, who stood three inches taller than him and could have easily flicked him away with his string-entwined fingers if he wanted to. 

But, Error just stared at him with uncomfortable confusion. 

After a while, Ink closed his eyes and took in a deep breath, holding it as he pressed his palms together and brought them up to his mouth. 

He didn’t move. 

He didn’t speak. 

He just stood there in complete silence. 

Then, after about ten seconds, Ink exhaled loudly through his mouth. He seemed calmer now, but still very ticked off with Error.

“What part.” Ink said in a low voice. “Of ‘I need your help.’” His glared at Error, almost murderously, “Did you not understand?”

Error stared hard at Ink. His eyes scanned over the faded areas of his body as if he just noticed them. Then his eyes rested on the empty space across his chest, **_“WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED TO YOU?”_**

Ink pinched the bridge of his nonexistent nose as he sighed, “It’s a really long story.”

**_“THEN LET’S GO WITH THE SHORT VERSION.”_** Error said, impatiently,

Ink nodded, then took in a deep breath, “Basically, I got mugged.”

**_“WHAT!?”_ **

“Yeah, by Cross.”

**_“CROSS!?”_** Error’s brow furrowed as his form began to flicker rapidly,

“Yep. Then he stabbed me and threw me out a portal.”

Error stared at Ink incredulously, **_“YOU CAN’T JUST SAY SOMETHING LIKE THAT SO CASUALLY!”_**

Ink shrugged, “Eh, the shock of the whole event is gone. I’m okay now, see.” he said as he pointed at his chest. 

Error’s forehead creased as he just stared at Ink, then he let out an exasperated sigh, **_“ALRIGHT, BUT WHERE ARE YOUR VIALS NOW? DOES CROSS HAVE THEM?”_** Error flickered more rapidly as he said the other skeletons name. Sans didn’t blame Error for his hatred of Cross. He’d never met him, but from what he heard, he knew he didn’t want to be locked in a room with that guy. Even if they were the same person.

“. . . Nooooo.” Ink said, avoiding Error’s gaze.

Error blinked, **_“THEN, WHERE ARE THEY?”_** Error asked slowly and forcefully, peering down at the smaller skeleton. His patience wearing thin.

“They . . . uh.” Ink tugged his scarf, his eye flashing purple in his discomfort.

Sans rolled his eyes. This was going nowhere fast. If things were going to get rolling, then they would need a little push first. He struggled to lift his head off the ground, “he . . . he threw them away into a . . . paint portal and . . . now he doesn’t know where they . . . are.” he managed to gasp over to them.

Sans wheezed as the strings around his soul tightened. His head fell back onto cool surface of the ground and soothed his hot, sweaty skull. 

Error’s head snapped over at Sans, then back to Ink, whose gaze had dropped down to the floor. 

He blinked, **_“YOU’RE AN IDIOT.”_**

“I already bashed myself over this, I don’t have to hear it from you too.” Ink said, waving Error off, “The point is, I know that they are somewhere in the multiverse-”

**_“OH, WELL GREAT DEDUCTION SKILLS, DETECTIVE. THAT JUST LEAVES YOU WITH OVER NINE THOUSAND TWO HUNDRED UNIVERVERSES LEFT TO CHECK!”_ **

“I can do without the sarcasm, thank you.” Ink frowned, “Anyway, they are somewhere in the multiverse and I need to find them before Cross does. I can’t AU hop right now because he also broke Broomy,” he quickly gestured to the stick half of his paintbrush on his back, “And I need your help to get me to the universes so I can search for my vials.”

Error’s form twitched slightly, **_“YOU NEED ME . . . TO BE YOUR PORTAL CABBIE!?”_**

“Well, I wouldn’t call you that-”

Error laughed hard. It sounded course and broken in his electronic way, **_“WHY, IN ANY UNIVERSE, IN ANY MULTIVERSE, WOULD YOU THINK I WOULD EVER HELP YOU?”_**

He paused as he thought about the situation, **_“IN FACT, I MIGHT ACTUALLY GET SOME WORK DONE NOW THAT YOU’RE OUT OF THE WAY. I COULD FINALLY OBLITERATE YOUR PRECIOUS AUS TWICE AS FAST AND YOU WOULDN'T BE ABLE TO STOP ME.”_**

“You wouldn’t do that.” Ink said plainly, “We made a deal, remember. We promised to work together to keep balance in the multiverse. You would only destroy abandoned AUs that were sick and dying, and I would only maintain and protect the ones that were complete. We’re a team now, and you may be an unstable and chaos-loving anomaly, but you are a skeleton of honor.”

Error paused, then groaned in defeat. Sans groggily smirked as he saw the destructive excitement disappeared from the glitchy skeleton’s face.

“Besides, I’m your best friend. And you want to help me even if you won’t admit it to yourself.” 

Error snorted at this, **_“WE'RE NOT FRIENDS.”_** he said, **_“IF ANYTHING WE’RE JUST TOLERABLE BUSINESS PARTNERS.”_**

“That’s not true.” Ink pointed out, “You invite me to watch Undernovela with you every weekend.”

Sans snickered, which prompted Error to add more pressure to his strings. Sans grunted and curled into himself on the floor, but still found himself smiling despite the pain. 

**_“I DON’T INVITE YOU. YOU JUST SHOW UP.”_ **

“But, you never kick me out.”

Error groaned, **_“I GAVE UP TRYING A LONG TIME AGO.”_**

“And what about all those birthday parties where we-”

**_“OH MY- JUST SHUT UP ALREADY!”_ **

“And,” Ink continued, “If we don’t get my vials back before Cross does, he would potentially have the power to destroy any AU he wanted.”

This caught Error’s attention.

**_“WHAT!?”_** He shouted in Ink’s face, **_“HE CAN’T DO THAT! BUT THAT’S MY JOB! OH, WHEN I GET MY HANDS ON HIM I’M GONNA-”_**

“So you’ll help me then?” Ink asked,

Error paused, inspecting Ink again. From what Sans could see, Ink had already lost all of the color in his right arm, the color in his shoes and part of his legs, and his left hand was already starting to grey out. It was concerning to say the least, like an hourglass counting the seconds until the end of the world. And, if Ink whited out completely, it very well could be.

Error seemed to know this too. Despite the fact that he hated everything Ink stood for, he couldn’t deny the fact that he was vital to the survival of the multiverse. All of them. The good ones and the bad ones. Even the one they were in now, and the Anti-void could hardly be called a universe.

He groaned loudly as he threw his hands frustratedly in the air, **_“ALRIGHT, FINE! I’LL HELP YOU OUT,”_** Before Ink could say anything, he jammed his finger at him, **_“BUT ONLY BECAUSE I CAN’T HAVE ANOTHER CRAZED LUNATIC JUMPING AROUND THE MULTIVERSE CAUSING HAVOC. THAT’S MY THING.”_**

Ink just smiled softly, “Thank you.”

**_“Whatever.”_** Error turned away and murmured to himself.

There was a pause, “Um . . . Error?”

**_“WHAT?”_ **

“Um . . . well . . . you still have . . .” Ink pointed up toward the skeleton and human who were still suspended in the air. Silently watching the scene below them. They still looked scared, but hopeful. 

Error looked back down to glare at Ink, “Remember, we made a deal.”

Error stared Ink dead in the eye, **_“Fine.”_**

Without tearing his gaze away from Ink, Error made his strings gently lowered Papyrus and Frisk until they could feel the ground beneath their feet. Then the strings retracted from their soul, allowing the small organs to sink back into their bodies once again. 

The threads also let go of Sans’ own soul. He let out a breath he hadn’t known he had been holding once his small heart was placed back in his ribcage where it belonged, safe and whole. He closed his heavy eyelids, allowing himself to rest now that the danger had past.

**_“Happy now?”_** He could still hear Error through the fog of his dreary mind.

“If I hadn’t lost the ability to feel joy fifty-seven minutes ago, I would be, yes.”

Heavy footsteps vibrated the floor as they approached Sans. He was yanked up from his near-senselessness by a pair of hands lifting him off the ground. Sans blearily opened his eye sockets, and was relieved to see his brother’s face looking back at him.

“SANS! ARE YOU OKAY!?” Tears were streaming from the skeleton’s eye sockets as he spoke rapidly, “I WANTED TO HELP YOU BUT I COULDN’T GET DOWN, AND WHEN I TRIED TO USE MY MAGIC THE STRINGS JUST GOT TIGHTER! AND . . . ARE . . . A-ARE YOU ALRIGHT?”

Ah, geez.  After everything that had happened, Papyrus was still concerned about Sans. He really was too good for this universe, 

“yeah bro.” Sans breathed heavily, but he still smiled wide, trying to show his brother that he was still intact, “i’m fine. just a . . . a little tired, but . . . when am i not, right?”

“Oh thank goodness,” Papyrus said softly as he pulled Sans into a desperate hug, “Don’t you ever scare me like that again.” Sans slowly closed his eyes as he melted into Papyrus’ warm embrace. He felt safe in his brother’s arms, like he was his own personal shelter from all the dangers of the world.

Another force pushed against him. This one was not as strong as his brother’s, but just as powerful in a different sense . Sans opened his eyes half way to see that Frisk had joined in the hug, her eyes were also glistening. He placed a weak, shaky hand on her head, rustling up her soft hair in a gentle, reassuring manner, “hey, you okay kiddo?”

Frisk nodded, rubbing the salty water from her eyes, “I am now.”

Sans smiled, wearily. His vision blurred again, causing small specks of light to dance before his eyes. He tried to blink them away, but no matter how hard he tried he couldn’t get his eye lights to focus again. 

A sleepy haze began to settle over his mind. He had been fighting his exhaustion for so long because he didn’t want to risk Error taking over him again while he slept. But now that Frisk and Papyrus were safe, the adrenaline that had been coursing through him and had passed. And his body was just now realizing how tired and beat up he really was.

Papyrus sensed his brother becoming weak in his hold, “You can rest now, brother.” he rubbed Sans’ back soothingly, “Do not worry. The Great Papyrus will watch over you while you sleep.”

Sans couldn’t help but smile, “that’s . . . kinda creepy bro.”

Papyrus scowled, “You know what I mean.”

“yeah, i know.” Sans muttered, “i . . . know.” 

He sighed as he closed his heavy eye lids and allowed the lights in his sockets to blow out. Soon, all the sound around him seemed to muffle out as his breaths became slower and more even. Sans felt himself becoming lighter as he let himself succumb to sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ink belongs to @comyet  
> Error belongs to @loverofpiggies


	7. Cue Fanfare

_The universe was white and empty, but this was surly where the distress signal was called. He had felt his friend’ s pain and sorrow here, and he was there to help._

_But, looking around, there was nothing of the old world. To the left, there was only white. To the right as well. There was only white and . . ._

_Black._

_His eyes grew wide. He ran closer to the only color in the white world and knelt down next to it. It was a trail of black that spread across the floor for what seemed like miles. Like someone had dragged an ink-soaked sponge across a blank canvas._

_And next to this was . . . a mop?_

_He tentatively picked it up. Letting his shaky hand brush through the long hairs at the end of the broken stick. He recognized this, only it wan’t a mop at all._

_He stored it away in his inventory for later. Right now, he needed to find its owner. They were surly desperately missing it by now._

_His eyes glanced over the scene of destruction and pain that had passed by. But there was no sign of life anywhere. Not anymore._

_What exactly had happened here?_

____________________________________________________

Papyrus exhaled deeply in relief once Sans’ soft snores vibrated through the Anti-void. He barely stirred as the lanky skeleton readjusted his brother in his arms so that he was hanging onto him like a sleepy sloth. 

Papyrus had never been so scared in his life.

Seeing his brother used as a living weapon was just wrong. He had always known Sans could fight, but he had always been too lazy to ever spar with anyone, let alone battle them. 

Papyrus could count the number of times he’d seen Sans fight on one hand, but he knew enough to know that how Sans usually fought was nothing like how Error made him fight. When Sans fought on his own terms, his bullet patterns were flawless and well thought out. One might say it was almost a work of genius. As a battle enthusiast, Papyrus knew for a fact that his brother’s bullet patterns were very advanced. Plus, Sans always knew when the battle got to rough, either for him or for his opponent. He knew his limits and never pushed beyond them.

But, when Error took over him, Sans was nothing like himself. He didn’t even try to dodge most attacks, and he barely had the health to withstand it in the first place. His clothes were still shredded and stained from the accidental strikes from Ink. Papyrus still had the image of his brother, bleeding and broken on the floor, burned into his mind’s eye, and he was certain that it would haunt him for a long while. 

That wasn’t the only terrifying thing. Sans threw his attacks around thoughtlessly, without any restraint for himself or for Ink. Nothing like his normal patterns. 

His movement were forced and jerky, much unlike his usual fluid motions he had in a regular battle. He had been relentless and set on wounding the other skeleton, even if it meant hurting himself to do it.

Then when his exhaustion hit him like a brick, and he continued to fight, Papyrus wanted to cry. He knew Sans wanted to stop, he could hear his brother’s labored breathing even when he was suspended by his soul. Sans never lasted longer than thirty turns in battle, but Error forced him through the fight and made him go far past his limit. It was painful to watch his brother continue even when he should have collapsed from fatigue a long time ago.

Papyrus held Sans close and rubbed his spine soothingly. For once in his life, he believed that his brother deserved a good long rest.

“Is Sans going to be okay?” Frisk asked, her face scrunched up with worry for her friend.

Papyrus smiled, “I BELIEVE HE WILL BE.” he reassured his human friend, “IF THERE IS ONE THING ABOUT MY BROTHER THAT I KNOW FOR CERTAIN, IT IS THAT HE IS MUCH STRONGER THAN HE LETS PEOPLE BELIEVE.”

Frisk nodded her head thoughtfully, then her gaze slipped over to where the two alternate versions of Sans stood. The two skeletons watched the three of them with different expressions.

Ink’s eye had turned pink and now had a small, inverted heart swimming the darkness of his socket. He was looking at the three of them like one might look at a kitten cuddling up with a puppy. 

Error on the other hand glared at the two brothers. His hands were clenched close to his side as they shook slightly. 

When Papyrus saw them watching, he smiled brightly at them. The tall skeleton confidently crossed over to where the alternate versions of his brother stood, original brother in tow. Frisk bravely followed close behind, but she hide close behind the skeleton’s legs, just in case.

Error tensed as the lanky skeleton approached him, but he was caught off guard when he saw Papyrus smiling at him, “THANK YOU, GLITCHY SANS!” he beamed. 

Error blinked in confusion, **_“WHAT FOR?”_**

Papyrus shook slightly while he faced his previous captor, but he was dead set on thanking him properly, “FOR FREEING US. I KNOW THAT IT MUST HAVE BEEN HARD FOR YOU TO CHANGE YOUR MIND, BUT I AM GRATEFUL THAT YOU DID. SO, I THANK YOU.”

Error blushed slightly in surprise, then his gaze stubbornly dropped, **_“DON’T MENTION IT. IT’LL RUIN MY REPUTATION.”_**

“OH, OKAY.” there was a pause, and then Papyrus continued, trying to keep the conversation going, “I’M SURE YOUR PAPYRUS IS VERY PROUD OF YOU, REGARDLESS OF WHAT YOU WANT YOUR REPUTATION TO BE.”

Error flickered. His eyes shot up at Papyrus and he stared at him like he was insane. Then he frowned as his gaze fell to the floor once again. 

Papyrus’ eyes scrunched up in concern, "IS SOMETHING THE MATTER?”

Error didn’t respond, he didn’t even look up at him. 

So instead, Ink spoke for him, “Not every Sans has a Papyrus.” he said somberly. His light flickered dark blue before becoming cyan again.

“OH.” The lanky skeleton nodded, but then his expression became sadder in realization, “Oh . . .” 

Papyrus almost couldn’t believe it. A Sans without him? That was like popcorn without butter, or spaghetti without meatballs. It still tasted good, but the two needed each other it survive. He looked down at Error, sympathetically, but Error didn’t seem to want his pity.

“Well then . . .” Papyrus suddenly stood up straighter, his expression more confident. He readjusted the still-asleep Sans in his arms so that he could have one hand free. 

“GLITCHY SANS!” He shouted boisterously while getting into his ‘hero pose’. He wasn’t too worried about waking up his brother. Sans could sleep through the end of the world if he wanted to, “SEEING AS YOU DO NOT HAVE A COOL BROTHER LIKE ME AROUND TO TAKE CARE OF YOU. I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, WILL ELECT MYSELF TO TAKE UP THIS ROLE.”

Error looked at Papyrus as if he had just claimed that the desert had just iced over, **_“WHAT?”_**

“THAT IS RIGHT!” Papyrus beamed, “I WILL BE YOUR BROTHER. FOR NOW ON. NOW, LET US SEAL IT WITH A HUG.”

Error’s eyes went wide as Papyrus cam closer to him.” ** _WAIT, NO NO NO NO!”_**

He tried to get away, but The Great Papyrus was just to quick for him. The tall skeleton scooped him up with his free arm and pulled him close into a bone-crushing hug.

“Papyrus, wait!” Ink cried out,

Error’s form shuddered more violently than Papyrus had ever seen before. He became stiff in the tall skeleton’s hold and the dial up sound erupted from the glitchy skeleton as his red eyes began to fill up with the word ‘ERROR’.

“Whoops! Too late.”

Papyrus quickly dropped Error onto the floor where he crumbled into a glitchy, shuddering mess of code. Papyrus’ hand frantically hovering over him, but he didn’t dare touch him in fear that he might hurt him even more. 

“OH NO!” He exclaimed,“I BROKE HIM! THE POWER OF MY BROTHERLY HUG WAS TOO MUCH FOR HIM TO HANDLE!”

“What’s wrong with him?” Frisk asked, concernedly “Is he sick?”

“No, he’s fine. He just crashed. He’ll be fine in a minute of two.” Ink said this like it was an everyday fact, “Error doesn’t like to be touched.”

“REALLY?” Papyrus was relieved that he was alright, but also disappointed, “WHY NOT?”

Ink just shrugged, but then his attention slipped over to his colorless hands. Flexing his fingers cautiously, He looked at them mournfully, as if he had lost a precious piece of himself. And in some way, he had.

Frisk also inspected the faded areas on Ink’s arms, sadly “What color did you lose this time?”

Ink sighed, “Orange: my confusion and surprise.” 

Frisk’s face scrunched up, “Are you going to be okay?”

The small skeleton quickly shook himself out of his funk, his cyan eyes lighting up in his dark sockets, “Yeah, I’ll be fine.” he said nonchalantly, “I honestly never really knew how orange worked anyway. I mean, I’m still capable of not understand things, but I just don’t have the confused feeling to go with it.”

Ink paused for a second, glancing back at his greying bones and clothing, “But, I’ll be fine. I still have enough colors to last me a couple days or so. This just means that I have to find my vials faster.”

He looked back up at the small group, then at the sleeping Sans in Papyrus’ arms. He was peaceful now. Ink’s forehead crinkled, “I’m sorry you guys got dragged into this. I never wanted you to get involved in multiversal affairs.”

“It’s okay Ink. We’re not mad at you.”

“YES, THE GREAT PAPYRUS DOES NOT HOLD GRUDGES AGAINST HIS FRIENDS.”

The dial up sound abruptly stopped and was replaced with a heavy groan. Papyrus looked down and saw that Error had stopped buzzing and was now attempting to pull himself up, unsuccessfully. He still stuttered a little, but was otherwise stable. 

**_“UUGH. WHAT HAPPENED?”_** He moaned as he rubbed his aching skull.

“You crashed, remember.” Ink replied.

Error blinked a few times, then glared annoyedly up at Papyrus. The tall skeleton gave him a shaky, apologetic smile.

**_“YEAH, I REMEMBER NOW.”_** Error lifted himself off the ground, without anybody’s help. 

Error then turned to Ink, jabbing his thumb in the small groups direction, **_“WHAT SHOULD I DO WITH THESE LOSERS? THROW THEM INTO UNDERWORLD?”_** he said with a wicked grin, eyeing them maliciously.

Papyrus took a cautious step backwards. He didn’t know what Underworld was, but he ha a feeling that he wouldn’t like it that much.

“No.” Ink answered, slightly annoyed, “We’re taking them home. We need to get these three in their own universe before we search any further.”

“What!? No!” Frisk exclaimed, “We can’t go home yet. We have to help you find your color vials.”

Ink turned back to the human child, “Frisk, I already told you. It would be irresponsible of me to allow you to help on a dangerous mission like this.”

“NO. FRISK IS RIGHT.” Papyrus agreed, “YOU’LL NEED ALL THE HELP YOU CAN GET TO REGAIN YOUR VIAL THINGIES. THEY ARE IMPORTANT TO YOU, THEREFORE, THEY ARE IMPORTANT TO US AS WELL, AND NOT JUST BECAUSE YOU ARE OUR FRIEND. YOU SAID IT YOURSELF, IF YOUR VIALS GET INTO THE WRONG HANDS IT COULD SPELL DISASTER FOR US ALL. IN HELPING YOU, WE ARE ALSO PROTECTING OUR OWN UNIVERSE, WHICH IS WHAT HEROS, LIKE ME, ARE SUPPOSED TO DO. IF SANS WERE CONSCIOUS HE WOULD TOTALLY AGREE WITH ME.”

Sans snorted in his sleep. He must’ve been dreaming about comedy night and bottomless ketchup at Grillby’s.

Ink paused for a moment, looking back at Error for some kind of back up. But, Error just shrugged, **_“IF THEY WANT TO GET THEMSELVES KILLED, IT’S NONE OF MY BUSINESS. I’M JUST THE PORTAL CABBIE, REMEMBER?.”_**

Ink sighed. Then, after a few moments of deep thinking, he turned back to the small group, “You do realize what coming along will mean?”

“Yes!” Frisk replied, enthusiastically.

“It will be dangerous.” 

“I LOVE DANGER! IN FACT, MY MIDDLE NAME IS DANGER!”

“You will be going into unfamiliar territory. So, you will have to do exactly as I say. Even if I tell you to run. Even if I tell you to fight.”

“We promise to listen to you.”

“And you have to be aware that with the more color I lose, the more annoying I’ll become. Do you really want to deal with me when I’m an emotional mess?”

“I’VE BEEN TAKING CARE OF MY BROTHER FOR YEARS.” Papyrus stated, proudly, “IF I CAN HELP HIM THROUGH HIS ISSUES, I AM POSITIVE THAT I CAN HELP YOU THROUGH YOURS.”

“And Frisk,” Ink leaned in close to the human, “If you die outside your own timeline, you won’t be able to reset. Do you really want to risk your life just for me?”

Papyrus' brow furrowed in confusion, "WHAT IS A RESET?"

Ink waved him off, "It's not important right now. Ask Classic about it later."

Frisk’s determination barely faltered at the news, she held firm in her stature, “Well, you can’t spell Frisk without ‘risk’, right?” 

Ink smiled lightly, but Papyrus cringed, “OH MY STARS FRISK, MY BROTHER IS SUCH A BAD INFLUENCE ON YOU!”

“Alright then.” Ink said, seriously, “From here on out, you are no longer unwitting bystanders in the multiverse. You are going to know exactly how small you really are in the grand scheme of things. It may be overwhelming at first, but I promise that you’ll get used to the idea.

“Also, since your world is about to get much bigger, the threats will also become more dangerous with it . There are plenty of people in the universe that would kill you just for the EXP. You need to be aware and cautious in the more dangerous AUS, even in the safer ones, got it?”

Both Frisk and Papyrus nodded.

“And try not to interact with the other people too much. Most Sanses already know about the multiverse, but the others characters are blissfully unaware of the concept. We don’t want to upset the balance of things.”

**_“LIKE YOU DID IN THEIR UNIVERSE?”_** Error asked, smugly.

Ink crossed his arms over his chest and glared at Error, “That was not my fault and you know that.”

**_“THAT’S DEBATABLE.”_ **

“Can we just get going, please!”

Error just smirked as he shrugged, **_“ALRIGHT SQUID, WHERE DO YA WANNA CHECK FIRST?”_**

Ink thought for a moment, “Um, let’s go to Underswap. I’m pretty that I was thinking of Blue’s tacos when I was making my portal. So they might be there. Probably.”

Error rolled his eyes and then turned around to get to work.

“UNDERSWAP? WHAT IS THAT?” Papyrus asked, “I’M . . . ASKING FOR FRISK OF COURSE, BECAUSE SOMEONE AS COOL AS ME OBVIOUSLY ALREADY KNOWS SUCH A PLACE.”

Ink turned back to the lanky skeleton, a pink soul glowed in his left eye socket as he spoke. “Oh, it’s a really nice universe. The people there are so kind and they make some of the best food. Actually, it’s not too different from your own world, except everyone’s roles have been switched.”

“What does that mean?” Frisk asked as she cocked her head to the side.

Ink smiled, “You’ll see.”

Error reached out his hand, and out of no where appeared a smaller version of the portal Papyrus had seen when he had taken them into the Anti-void the first time. The two Sanses were the first to step through. They unceremoniously walked through to the other side and into the other universe. 

Papyrus looked at the portal warily, but he shifted his hold on Sans and bravely made his way to the space window. But then, he looked back and saw Frisk fiddled with the hem of her sweater nervously. Papyrus smiled down at his friend and he held out his free hand. “WOULD YOU LIKE TO HOLD MY HAND?”

“Yes, please.”

Frisk took the skeleton’s hand, who stroked the back of her hand with his thumb, reassuringly, “WE WILL BE OKAY.”

She looked up and smiled, determination sparkling in her eyes. She was still nervous, but ready to move forward, “I know.”

Then, they stepped through the portal together.

When they emerged from the other side, they were met with terrified shrieks.

Papyrus and Frisk gaped when they saw where they were now.  Papyrus knew that they were back in a Snowdin Town, but this one seemed different than the one he had grown up in. Some of the building were either switched around or had different signs on the front of them. 

Also, most of them were on fire.

It was chaos. Several buildings were engulfed in bright, orange flames that ate up the wood. The snow in the area was mostly melted, but there were still some piles of slush that had survived the heat. And all around them, terrified monsters were running around, desperately trying to either fight the flames or escape into the the woods.

They hardly noticed the small group when they emerged through the opening through space and time.

Ink and Error were standing in from Papyrus and Frisk just watching the whole scene play out. Ink stared at the destruction with shocked horror, but Error was grinning like a Cheshire cat as he watched one of the homes crumble as the infrastructure failed.

“What the heck happened here!” Ink’s eyes were wide and hollow. No light were in his sockets at all.

“COOL.” Error grinned as he took in the destruction, “THIS PLACE JUST GOT WAY MORE INTERESTING.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ink belongs to @comyet  
> Error belongs to @loverofpiggies  
> Art by me: https://www.deviantart.com/princess-jaybird


	8. Sticks and Stones and Broken Bones

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I combined two chapters into one recently. Just thought I'd let you know.

_ A sudden pang hit his sensitive soul. A feeling of despair, distress, and pain from far away alerted him. His head shot up and his eyes glowed brighter as the urgent sensation pushed on his mind. He knew this feeling all too well. _

_ His assistance was needed elsewhere. _

_ He scanned the barren AU with sorrow. He was hesitant to leave, he hadn’t completed his task just yet, but there were much more pressing matters at hand. He would have to find his friend later. _

_ He closed his eyes and focused on his powers from deep within his soul. He reached out for a positive source of energy, but there was hardly enough for him to make the jump, much to his disappointment. _

_ The people were losing hope, and quickly. _

_ He wouldn’t give up though. He kept scanning for the energy he needed. It didn’t have to be much. Just a twinkle, a glimmer of a thought would do. As long as it was a happy one. _

_ But, how could someone be happy when everything they knew and love was falling apart. He didn’t know. _

_ He just hoped that they would. _

\-----------------------------

The heat from the flames scratched against his bones, making it feel like they were covered in mosquito bites. Ink would have reached up to relieve the itch, but his arms were limp and useless against his sides. All he could do was stare and gape as this beautiful version of Snowdin, that he often visited for the company and food, crumbled to charcoal before his eyes.

It almost felt like a bad dream. There was no way that this was Snowdin. This was just a nightmare. At any moment he would wake up and everything would go back to normal.

Unfortunately, this wasn’t the case. It was all real.

“WHEN YOU SAID UNDERSWAP WAS A NICE PLACE,” Papyrus said, “I WAS EXPECTING SOMETHING A LOT LESS . . . FIERY.”

Another building’s roof collapsed on itself, sending cinders and embers into the air. Next to Ink, Frisk coughed as she accidentally breathed in the soot. This brought Ink back from his stunned stupor.

“We need to get out of here.” Ink thought out loud. He scanned the area, and beyond the fire and crowd of Snowdin citizens running amuck, he saw that there was still one place that hadn’t been caught in the firestorm, probably due to the wind blowing the embers of the fire in the opposite direction.

“Follow me!”

Papyrus and Frisk sprinted after Ink as he ran out past the burning buildings and further away from town. Error lagged behind, probably to admire the flames and destruction around him for a bit longer.

Soon, the mud and slush became crunchy snow again once they got further away from the fires. They ran past Muffet’s bakery and beyond the Snowdin Librarby. They didn’t stop until they were at the steps of a familiar looking house that was decorated with colorful Christmas lights.

This area was devoid of any monster life, other than the present skeletons. Since most of the citizens had either evacuated into the woods or were helping to control the flames, there was no one around. They were all alone.

While Papyrus eyed the brightly lit house nostalgically and Frisk sat down on the stairway to catch her breath, Ink jumped over the two steps to the door and grabbed a spare key he knew was always hidden underneath the welcome mat in every universe. He clumsily inserted the key into the key hole and unlocked the door so he could throw it open.

“Hurry! Get inside!”

Ink practically pushed Papyrus and Frisk into the living room of the house.Error still casually strolled toward the house, stopping to look back at the fires from a distance. The smile on his face was almost unsettling.

“Error, will you stop being sadistic and hurry up already!”

**_“ALRIGHT I’M COMING.”_** Error huffed as he walked through the doorway in an easygoing manner, **_“JEEZ, DON’T GET YOUR SCARF IN A TANGLE.”_**

As Ink slammed the door and locked it once again, Papyrus and Frisk explored the bottom level of the house with freaked out amazement. The home was almost identical to skelebro’s house back in their universe. Even the lone sock with the series of stick notes on the wall were in their right place.

The only differences they could see where that instead of Sans’ pet rock on the table, there was a potted plant there instead. In the kitchen, the sink was so small that Frisk could have washed her hands there with ease. And when they opened the fridge, they saw that it was filled to the brim with different kinds of meats, cheeses, lettuces, tomatoes, and taco shells as opposed to Papyrus’ left over spaghetti.

“WOWIE. THIS PLACE LOOKS EXACTLY LIKE MY OLD HOUSE.” Papyrus walked over to a green couch and carefully laid Sans down upon it. He then unraveled the long, red scarf from around his neck and draped it over his sleeping brother like a blanket. Frisk sat herself near Sans’ skull and pet it gently. In his unconscious state, Sans let out a soft sigh of relief at her touch, which made Frisk feel warm deep down in her soul.

“SAY, INK?” Papyrus asked while inspecting the stair that led to the next level of the room, which he knew for a fact that if he went exploring up there he would find rooms similar to his and his brother’s, “IS THIS WHERE THE OTHER SANS AND ME LIVE?”

Papyrus turned around to find the small skeleton pacing back and forth across the living room, his shoes dragging along the colorful carpet. His breathing was heavy and panicked and the colorful shapes in his eye sockets were constricted to the point that they looked like marbles.

“INK? ARE YOU OKAY? YOU LOOK A LITTLE SWEATY.”

Ink didn’t seem to hear him, “Oh no no no no no!” his fingers dug into his skull anxiously and his eye flickered with purple light, “This is all wrong! This isn’t supposed to happen! Oh nononono! We have to help them! No wait!” Ink stopped his pacing before he continued it again, “We can’t let them see us! We need to hide! No wait! Snowdin is crumbling and it isn’t safe here! We need to run! No wait-!”

**_“WILL YA JUST CHILL?”_** Error said as he plopped himself down on the lumpy couch, sitting as far away was he could from the sleeping Sans and the human, **_“IT ISN’T THE END OF THE WORLD.”_**

“Are you not seeing this!” Ink shouted at Error as he pointed out a window that showed the burning houses in the distance, “Not even a full day without me and the multiverse is falling apart at the seams. This is what happens when I’m not around to stop these kinds of messes. Things literally go up in flames!”

**_“C’MON, WHOSE TO SAY THIS WOULDN’T HAVE HAPPENED ANYWAY. YOU KNOW HOW BLUE GETS WITH HIS TACOS SOMETIMES.”_ **

“Yes I do. But his fires have never been outside his own home or Alphys’ house. He has never caused the entire town to catch on fire before, and I don’t think he would be careless enough to start now.”

**_“SO, WHAT? YOU THINK IT’S ARSON?”_ **

“I am mostly one-hundred percent sure of that, yes.” Ink held his chin in his deep thought, “But who would do this? Of course Cross would be my first suspect, but he wouldn't cause this much chaos just to find my vials, would he? He likes to remain low key if he can help it.”

“FRISK, WHERE ARE YOU GOING?” Papyrus asked. It wasn’t until then that Ink realized that the human had gotten up from her spot on the couch and was now in the process of walking out the front door Ink had just locked.

“FRISK, I DON’T THINK THAT IT’S A GOOD IDEA TO BE WANDERING OFF!”

Ink quickly ran after Frisk and caught up to her just as she was about to run off in the direction of Waterfall, “Frisk! What are you doing? It’s dangerous out here, and I told you to stay hidden.”

“But I saw something weird earlier.” Her eyes were wide, like she was both amazed and shocked at the same time. 

Ink just sighed, “I’m sure this whole universe is strange to you. It is familiar in many ways yet different at the same time. There is bound to be something weird to you.” 

“No," Frisk insisted, "I mean, really weird. It looked like an alien mud puddle in the snow. It was really dark, like black. It didn’t look natural.”

Ink paused, “What? Really? Where?”

Frisk pointed over to the shed that was next to the brightly lit house. In the white expansiveness of the snow, it wasn’t too difficult to find the puddle of mud Frisk was talking about. Ink rushed over to it, then paused when he was a foot away from it.

Frisk was right about one thing. This puddle wasn’t natural. Nothing like this had ever been in any of the AUs Ink had seen.

Except . . . maybe one.

Error and Papyrus followed the two outside and stood next to them and the puddle. Papyrus looked down at small pool with confusion, and Error stared at it with wide eyes.

**_“IT CAN’T BE.”_** Error glared down a the slime.

Ink knelt down before the dark puddle and squinted at it. It definitely looked familiar, but there was only one way to know for sure what it was.

Slowly and carefully, Ink dipped two of his fingers into the puddle and rubbed it against his thumb. It felt cold and slimy between his phalanges. He lifted it up to his nasal cavity and took a quick sniff, it smelt like oil. Then finally, he brought his fingers closer to his mouth and, with his magical, multicolored tongue, he licked up the black liquid.

It tasted like loathing and fear.

“Ugh! Blegh!” Ink gagged and quickly spat the goop out, but the taste still lingered in his mouth. He shivered at the bitter-sour sensation and tried to scrap it off his tongue. He felt like he was going to puke, but he managed to hold back the urge this time. "This is the second foulest thing I've ever tasted."

“INK!” Papyrus scolded, “YOU SHOULD KNOW BETTER THAN TO TASTE TEST THINGS YOU FIND ON THE GROUND. YOU COULD REALLY HURT YOURSELF. BELIEVE ME, I KNOW.”

“Yep. It’s him.” Ink confirmed as he shuddered. Then the skeleton grumbled to himself once the worst of the taste had faded away, “Of course it’s Nightmare. I just can’t catch a break today, can I?”

**_“NIGHTMARE’S HERE!?”_** Error’s body glitched rapidly, **_“AURGH! I HATE THAT GUY!”_**

“Error, you shouldn’t say ‘hate’. It’s a strong word and a negative emotion.”

**_“OH PLEASE, DON’T ACT SO HIGH AND MIGHTY.”_** Error scowled at Ink, “ ** _I KNOW YOU FEEL THE SAME WAY?”_**

“I don’t hate him. I just don’t agree with him all the time,” Ink clarified, “And that’s okay. If everyone had the same beliefs, then the multiverse would be a bland place to live. It is our opinions that give the multiverse its color.”

**_“TCH,”_** Error rolled his eyes, **_“SPARE ME THE CRAP.”_**

“Who’s Nightmare?” Frisk asked. Ink almost forgot that he had an audience until that point.

“He’s another Sans,” Ink briefly explained, “And he’s . . . not the most pleasant version of us.”

“REALLY?” Papyrus marveled, “HOW MANY VERSIONS OF MY BROTHER ARE THERE?”

Ink thought for a moment. Counting all of the different universes he could think of off the top of his head, “Eh, I’d say maybe over a thousand.”

“WOWIE!” the taller skeleton was amazed, “HOW MANY VERSIONS OF ME ARE THERE?”

“About the same. If you count the version of you that are dead.”

Papyrus’ face fell slightly, “OH.”

Ink turned back to the puddle on the ground. He then noticed another puddle not to far away from the original one. And another, and another, it was a trail. And it lead toward a fog just outside Snowdin that led to Waterfall.

“That must be where he’s headed,” Ink said to himself, then he turned toward Error, “We need to get to Nightmare before he hurts anyone else.”

“OKAY!” Papyrus said enthusiastically as he started marching in the direction toward Waterfall, “LET US GO FIND THIS NIGHTMARE AND TALK SOME SENSE INTO HIM.”

“Woah! Heck no! You’re not coming.” Ink grabbed hold of the back of Papyrus’ shirt and held him back, “This isn’t like when you fought Frisk. We are going to be up agains a corrupted alternate version of Sans who feeds off of other people’s negative emotions like a leech. Nightmare won’t spare you, he won’t even kill you. He will _torture_ you if he get’s his tentacles on you.”

“TENTACLES?” Papyrus asked, confused.

“Not important.” Ink replied without missing a beat, “The point is, there is no way in any universe I’m letting either of you face this literal and figurative monster.”

“But, I’ve faced monsters before.” Frisk complained, “We want to help you. You said we could help!”

“I also said that if you wanted to come along, you’d have to listen everything I’d say.” Ink shot back, “And right now, I’m saying you can’t come. It’s just too dangerous.”

Frisk pouted then turned away from Ink, her arms crossed over her chest stubbornly. Papyrus followed the humans example, and it was very effective in making Ink feel guilty.

He sighed heavily. Why should he feel guilty for keeping them safe. There was no way in any universe that he was going to allow a pacifist Frisk and Papyrus to join in a battle like this. Frisk would just try to flirt with the enemy, and Papyrus would be ripped into a million smiling pieces. They had to stay behind, but Ink also didn’t want them getting curious and running into the middle of a battle. There had to be some way to distract Frisk and Papyrus while he felt with this.

Ink thought for a moment, and then, he got the perfect idea,

“I’m sorry I can’t let you go, but there’s something even more important that I need you to do here. It’s sort of like a . . . secret mission.”

Papyrus’ interest was peaked. He didn’t fully turn around, but his head slowly spun so he could see Ink, “WHAT KIND OF SECRET MISSION?”

There it was, Papyrus could never resist a challenge, and neither could Frisk. Even though he couldn't see her, Ink felt her staring at him while he spoke, “It’s a super, duper, secret mission only meant for the most elite. It requires stealth, good observations, and amazing puzzle skills.”

Now Papyrus saw sold. His eyes lit up as he spun around to face Ink, “I AM ALL OF THOSE THINGS!”

“Yes you are.” Ink nodded in agreement, “This is a special mission specifically designed for you . . .” He stole a glance over at Frisk, who was reluctantly looking over her shoulder, “. . . and Frisk.”

Frisk peaked behind her shoulder a bit more, “. . . What do you want us to do.”

Ah Frisk. Ever determined to help. In any way she could. “Well, while Error and I go solve the Nightmare issue,” Ink said, “I’m going to need you and Papyrus to scour Snowdin for my emotion vials. You guys know this terrain the best, so I trust you two the most with this mission.”

“WOWIE!” Papyrus beamed at the compliment, but Frisk’s expression was one that seemed genuinely curious.

“But, looking for your vials in Snowdin would be like searching for a needle in a hay stack. How will we be able to find them?”

“It’s simple really.” Ink replied, “You’ll be able to feel it in your soul. My vials let off a very distinct aura that the soul can detect from at least a half-a-mile away. It’s hard to explain, but you’ll know it when you feel it.”

Papyrus and Frisk nodded thoughtfully, “Now.” Ink said seriously, “Are you prepared to accept this mission and all of the responsibilities that come with it?”

Papyrus saluted to the smaller skeleton, and Frisk copied his stance almost exactly, “AYE AYE INK!” Papyrus shouted boisterously, “WHEN YOU HAVE RETURNED FROM YOUR OWN MISSION, WE WILL HAVE GONE OVER EVERY SQUARE INCH OF SNOWDIN! NO ROCK WILL BE UNTURNED, AND NO SNOW SHALL BE UNDISTURBED.”

“Thank you Papyrus.” Ink nodded, “Now! Go forth and complete your quest!”

“YES SIR! NYEH HEH HEH HEH!” Papyrus picked up Frisk from off the ground and swung her on top of his shoulders. The human giggled and Papyrus sprinted off at full speed toward town, with the snow underneath his boots being kicked up into the air.

“And remember!” Ink shouted out to the skeleton and human, “Try not to let anyone see you if you can- aaaaaand they’re already gone.”

Error snickered. Ink turned and frowned at him, “What are you laughing about?”

Error just shrugged, **_“FOR SOMEONE WHO’S SUPPOSED TO BE THE CREATOR OF AUS, YOU'RE NOT THAT CREATIVE. WHY DIDN’T YOU JUST TELL THEM TO FIND A HIDDEN ARTIFACT DEEP IN THE CAVES OF THE MOUNTAIN? THAT WOULD HAVE BEEN MORE FUN.”_**

“Because that would have been counterproductive.” Ink answered back, “At least this way our valuable time won’t be entirely wasted.”

Error scowled slightly as he nodded, **_“SMART MOVE.”_** he grumbled under his breath.

“Thank you.” Ink said, “And I’m not the creator of AUs, just the protector.”

Error smirked, but then the smile faded as he looked off into the distance and into the foggy section of Snowdin. Ink followed his gaze and swallowed a lump in his throat. Whatever Nightmare was planning had to be stopped. It just had to be. Even if Ink was powerless and vulnerable right now, it was still his job to protect universes from threats outside their own world. But still, he couldn’t help but feel like tiny butterflies were fluttering in his invisible stomach.

“Are you scared?” Ink asked Error,

**_“NO.”_ **

“Oh . . . good. Me neither.” Ink said while his left eye flaring purple,

Error looked over at Ink and smirked, **_“ALRIGHT THEN,”_** he cracked his knuckles, which made Ink cringe inwardly, “ ** _LET’S GO KICK SOME IMMORTAL SKELETAL BUTT.”_**

_\-------------------_

The two skeletons stood at the borderline of the fog for a full minute before they decided to venture into it. A whiteness surrounded them, but Ink wasn’t afraid. It wasn’t the same white he had grown to fear and dread. This kind had a light blue tint to it that glimmered in the dull cave lighting. Plus, Ink could see the snow and fog floating along with the cavern’s gentle breeze. It was colorful and alive in it’s own way, so he felt no reason to be afraid. This type of white was beautiful.

A pink heart flickered in Ink’s eye socket as he admired the natural beauty of the area.

**_“SO, DO YA HAVE A PLAN, OR ARE WE GONNA GO INTO THIS BLIND LIKE WE USALLY DO?”_ **

“Of course I have a plan.” Ink said as he carefully tread the crunchy snow, “All we have to do is make Nightmare weak with your positive thinking. Then we rough him up a bit, and then we’re done. Easy as paint.”

**_“WHAT!? MY POSITIVE THINKING!?”_** Error laughed at the thought, **_“HAVE YOU MET ME!? I DON’T DO THAT SAPPY CRAP. WHY CAN’T YOU DO IT?”_**

“Because my emotions are fake.”

Error growled, **_“THAT’S YOUR EXCUSE FOR EVERYTHING.”_**

“No, I’m serious. Even if I still had joy to spare it wouldn’t make a difference. Since my feeling are artificial, they have no effect on Nightmare. It would be like drinking water that doesn’t hydrate you. I can’t make Nightmare any weaker, but on the bright side I can’t make him stronger either. So, pros and cons.” 

“Because of this though,” Ink continued, even though he could feel Error’s evil glare on his back like a hot wave of anger, “It means you have to do all the heavy lifting. Just, think about things that make you happy. Like your dolls, stars, knitting-“

The sound of a branch snapping echoed in the air, and Ink and Error froze in their tracks. 

The two skeletons quickly jumped into battle stances, standing back to back. Error called up his blue strings and spread them out between his fingers. Ink grabbed the broken paintbrush from his back and held it in front of him. Then, they just listened to the stillness of the foggy, snow covered terrain. 

Visuals were were limited. Ink could barely see three feet in front of him, and he doubted Error’s view would be any better. They mostly relied on their hearing, hoping to be able to catch their enemy through his footsteps in the crunchy snow.

Ink was so focused on listening that when he actually heard something, he gave a start.

**_“WHAT ARE YOU DOING?”_ **

It was just Error. He had turned his head to look back at Ink. “Um, defending myself.” Ink replied, like it was obvious.

**_“WITH THAT BROKEN PIECE OF JUNK? HA!”_** Error laughed. Ink looked at the broken paintbrush in his hand and shot a quick scowled at Error. He then turned away and continued to watch the shifting white in front of him.

**_“WHAT ARE YA GONNA DO WITH IT? BEAT HIM OVER THE HEAD? GIVE HIM A SPLINTER?”_ **

“Don’t disrespect Broomy.” Ink growled behind him, “He’s is still as reliable as ever, even like this.” Ink rolled his eyes, “Besides, it’s not like I can use my orange magic, because _someone_ made me use it all up for a pointless fight just for his entertainment.”

**_“HEY, I WASN’T FORCING YOU TO USE YOUR MAGIC.”_ **

Ink’s face scrunched up into a scowl. “You were literally attacking me! I had to defend myself! What was I supposed to do? Just let you hit me?”

Ink waited for Error to respond, but he didn’t. When he looked back to glare at the dark skeleton . . . 

He realized that he wasn’t there anymore.

He had just . . . disappeared into thin air.

The sound of a dial up tone echoed all around him. He couldn’t pinpoint exactly where it was originating from, but he knew what it implied.

“Error?”

Ink held his shaky battle stance and raised Broomy up like a dull, broken sword. 

Then, he heard the sound of crunching snow behind him. He quickly spun around to face his foe, kicking up snow beneath him in the process. But he couldn’t see anyone there. The fog was still too thick.

Maybe this hadn’t been the best idea.

There was more shuffling behind him once again. He turned around, but again. he saw nothing. 

The noise seemed to be moving around him. Every time he turned to confront it, it hide itself away, only to be heard in his blind spot once again.

After a while, it became tedious. “Nightmare, show yourself!” Ink shouted with a strong, demanding voice, even though that was the furthest thing he was feeling, “Enough hiding in the shadows! Come out so we can settle this like real skeletons!”

Then, all of a sudden, the world went still.

Only the sound of Ink’s shaky breaths could be heard.

This wasn’t gonna end well.

Suddenly, something whipped underneath Ink and he was swept off his feet. He landed on his back in the snow, slightly stunned and winded from the unsuspected blow. His grip on Broomy slipped and the broken stick went tumbling down in the snow with him. Before Ink could regain his loyal paintbrush, a cold, slimy tentacle grasped onto his ankle and the world lurched sharply. 

The tentacles thrashed the skeleton around the air like a rag doll, dragging him through numerous different pine trees and smashing him onto the hard ground. 

With every collision, something broke in Ink. His right eye socket cracked when he was smacked through a tree. A few ribs snapped when he was repeatedly smashed into the ground. The joints in his leg popped painfully as he was thrown around, violently. And terrible fractures grew along Ink’s ankle from the strong, harsh grip of the tentacle. With each break, he could feel his hot, sticky ink dripping from the wounds.

Just when he thought it couldn’t get any worse, Ink yelped as the tentacles released him in mid air, throwing him high above the snowy fog. He spun through the air and gained enough height to be able to crashed into the high ceiling of the cavern. A small but sharp stalactite collided with Ink’s spine, causing him to gasp in pain the small rock sent an electric shock all throughout his body. And then, he started to free fall back toward the Underground. 

The more gravity pulled on him, the closer the snowy floor got. Ink covered his face with his arms before he could feel the impact of the landing. But then, before his body could meed with the cold ground, the same slimy tentacle caught him by his broken ankle. Ink winced, and when he uncovered his face, he noticed that he had been barely an inch from hitting the ground head on. 

“C-C’mon Nightmare, this isn’t fair and you know it.” Ink swallowed back the bile in his mouth. The black ink bleeding from his skull dripped onto the ground and was soaked up by the white snow, “H-How am I supposed to fight back if I c-can’t even see you?”

**_“that’s kinda the point.”_**

Ink was flipped into the air again, but this time the tentacles caught him right side up and wrapped themselves over his arms so he couldn’t move them.

Snow crunched just behind the fog. Ink focused his left eye in the direction. Finally, he saw the cause of all this pain and suffering. The goopy skeleton beamed in an evil way as he watched Ink gasp for air.

**_“hello ink.”_** his voice was cold and slimy.

Seeing Nightmare in front of him now, in his cocky, arrogant pride, filled Ink with adrenaline-fueled rage. 

He glared at the skeleton in front of him, “Where’s Error!” he demanded to know, even though he knew he wasn’t really in any position to make demands.

**_“relax, i haven’t hurt him. yet.”_ **

A different tentacle uncoiled from Nightmare’s side to reveal an unconscious skeleton it its slimy grasp.

“Error!?” Ink exclaimed, but he didn’t respond. His form shuddered violently and the dial up tone erupted out from him. His face was scrunched up in pain. Even with his form glitching rapidly, Ink could see that Error had cracks along his own skull as well. Not as badly as his own were, but enough for it to look painful. He must have gotten beat up at the same time Ink was being thrown around.

Seeing Error like this shook Ink out of any painful daze me might have had, “W-What do you think you’re doing! You know he has haphephobia!”

**_“would you calm down. he’s just taking a little break.”_** Nightmare told him, **_“error may be strong, but even he is susceptible to weakness. all i had to do was exploit it, and he was out like a life.”_** Nightmare jostling Error around like he was a toy to make his point. 

“No! Stop! It’s me you want, right!? Not him! Just let him go!

Nightmare eyed Ink with amusement, **_“is that really what you want? do you want me to let him go?”_**

“Yes! Yes! Just let him go!” Ink shouted. This was all his fault. He had gotten them into this mess. He was so stupid. The least he could do was get Error out of harms way. He had already been through enough, and Ink didn’t want his best friend to get any more hurt than he already was.

**_“alright,”_** Nightmare smirked maliciously. **_“if that’s what you wish.”_**

Ink realized his mistake too late, “No! Wait!-“

With the flick of his tentacle, the limp Error was thrown high into the air and disappeared into the fog. 

Ink’s eye socket’s darted up towards the ceiling. He strained to hear the inevitable sound of Error’s bones snapping as he crashed down onto the hard, snowy ground, even though he was dreading it. But, to his relief, the sound never came. Instead, far out of his view, something splashed into the river nearby.

Ink sighed with relief.

Wait . . . could Error swim? 

He didn’t have time to dwell on the thought. Nightmare once again, pulled Ink closer until their faces were only a foot apart from each other. Ink could hear his bones crunching like popcorn in the skeleton’s, gooey grasp, but he stifled the urge to cry out, even though he _really_ wanted to.

**_“i must say i’m surprised to see you again.”_** Nightmare said casually, like he was catching up with a friend, “ ** _i honestly thought you were dead.”_**

“W-Well,” Ink gasped, his broken ribs making each breath feel like a stab through his non-existent soul, “S-sorry to disappoint, b-but I’m still a . . . alive as ever.”

**_“yes, i guess it was just too good to be true”_** Nightmare sighed, **_“it’s a shame cross couldn’t just finish ya. guess it’s up to me then, as usual.”_**

“Y-Your working with Cross!?” Ink groaned, “H-Honestly, can’t say that i’m s-so surprised.”

**_“believe me, i would gladly avoid the alliance if it were possible. but sadly, world destruction is a team effort.”_ **

“W-Why are you doing this?” Ink said, his voice almost a whine under the strain of the monster’s tentacles.

Nightmare just grinned at the skeleton in his hold, **_“what? you want me to give you my evil spiel,”_** he chuckled, **_“alright, fine, but only because i’ve got some time to kill.”_**

**_“basically, i need to get the attention of my little brother. i have some big plans in store for him.”_ **

Ink’s eyes grew wide, causing the ache in his broken eyelid to flare up. But he didn’t care, “Y-you leave him alone! Y-You . . . you b-bully!”

**_“oh, ink!”_** Nightmare feigned being hurt, he chuckled deeply, **_“i never knew you could be so cruel. but, i’m not sorry to say that that just won’t be possible. he has something i need. and i will gladly destroy anything to get him to come to me.”_**

“Why!?” Ink struggled in the hold of the tentacle, but it only succeeded in shifting his cracks. He winced slightly, but continued, “W-What could you possible gain from all destruction?”

Nightmare laughed, it was a harsh, cold thing to hear, **_“you know exactly what i get from this. with every suffering soul, i get stronger, and the stronger i get, the more people i can drag down into the darkness with me. Like they deserve.”_**

Nightmare smirked as he pulled his victim closer to him. Ink could smell the vile loathing coming off of the skeleton. It was a chilling thing, **_“adder and i just want the same thing. we both want to watch multiverse suffer for their sins.”_**

Ink paused, “W-Who’s Adder?”

Nightmare just smiled, unsettlingly, **_“no one that concerns you. especially since you will be dead in about two seconds.”_**

Then, Ink screeched in pain.

The black tentacles squeezed around Ink’s ribcage. He could feel the individual bones in his spine popping from the pressure. The fresh breaks in his ribs burned and stabbed at him as the pressure increased on him. 

He needed to escape, but how? He couldn’t teleport without taking Nightmare with him, so that would be a waste of magic. His healing did him no good, and using his Gaster Blaster took a huge amount of energy and would most likely result in his recapture. His gravity magic would do no good in freeing him, and his blue bone bullets wouldn’t work either because his hands were held down against his side. 

It was getting harder to breath. Ink desperately gasped air into his collapsing ribcage.

Was this is? Was this how his story ended? How pathetic. He always imagined himself going down in a grand battle to save the multiverse. He would dust as a martyr for all the alternate universes. Being crushed to death by a skeleton that really needed a bath didn’t exactly have the same ring to it.

But, if he was going down, he would be going down with a fight.

Adrenaline spiked through Ink as he fought against the pressure of the black tentacles, even though the extra appendages were stronger than he was and just trying to fight them off sent another wave of agony through his body. When he pushed his arms out, the inky arms constricted tighter, making his bones crackle under the duress. 

Ink’s head was beginning to feel too heavy for his neck to support. He feel lightheaded and disconnected from the rest of his body. Everything was getting blurry. It was getting harder to do anything.

He felt like his grasp on reality was slipping.

Further.

Further. 

Away. 

…

“STOP RIGHT THERE EVILDOER!” A loud, commanding voice erupted through Ink’s near unconsciousness, “I DEMAND THAT YOU RELEASE MY FRIEND AND DEPART FROM THIS UNIVERSE.”

Nightmare’s attention was turned, and the pressure around Ink loosened.

Thank the creators.

Nightmare’s grip was still tight enough so Ink couldn’t slip though, and his bones still ached and stabbed at him, but at least it didn’t feel like his bones were being ground in dust anymore. 

Ink could finally breath again, and the blurriness that had been overtaking his vision departed enough for him to be able to see things if he looked directly at it. He still felt limp though. His skull lolled forward and his chin rested on his aching chest. As he did this, he could feel some of his warm inky magic spilling out from his broken eye socket. and rolling down his skull

He was so tired. The strain his body had been through had left him physically and emotionally exhausted. He really needed a break, and not the kind in his bones.

But . . . there was something familiar about that voice. Familiar, and yet different from how he usually heard it.

“let the little guy go, or else you’re gonna have a bad time.” 

Another voice. Italso sounded familiar, but so different at the same time. Lower, softer, lazier . . .

. . . 

No.

It couldn’t be.

Ink lifted his heavy skull, the action sending a painful jolt down his spine. And with his good eye, squinted into the snowy terrain.

And what he saw made the lights in his sockets go dark.

Standing in the fog was the smallest skeleton he had ever seen (not including himself) He was dressed up in a “battle body” and had a light blue bandana tied around his neck. His eye light were large, blue, and had little white stars in the center. He posed dramatically as he smiled confidently at his foe.

Next to him was another skeleton, much taller than the first one, but he slouched to compensate for the smaller one’s vertical disadvantage. He wore a bright, orange hoodie and had dark marks underneath his eyes, like he was eternally tired. 

However, he seemed more awake now that Ink had ever seen him before in his life. In fact, he looked angry. 

The air crackled around both of them with half-manifested magic as they bid his time for the perfect moment to attack.

No. It couldn’t be. His eyes must be playing tricks on him. They can’t-

“MYEH HEH HEH! YOU ARE NO MATCH AGAINST ME AND MY LAZY BROTHER, PAPYRUS!” the small skeleton was smiling wide, “AS A ROYAL GUARDSMAN (in training), IT IS MY SWOREN DUTY TO PROTECT THE CITIZENS OF THE UNDERGROUND FROM VILLAINS LIKE YOU.”

They shouldn’t be here. It’s too dangerous. _There gonna get themselves killed!_

“SO, PREPARE YOURSELF SLIMY ME!” he summoned one of his blue attacks in his gloved hand, “FOR YOU ARE ABOUT TO COME FACE TO FACE WITH THE MAGNIFICENT SANS!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ink belongs to @comyet  
> Error belongs to @loverofpiggies  
> Nightmare belongs to @jokublog


	9. In Your Dreams

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I sincerely apologize for how long it has taken me to write this chapter. I did mention in my other fan fiction (In It's Infancy, you should check it out if you haven't yet) that since I'm back in school that it would take me longer to write these chapters. I've just been so busy with with homework and it hasn't given me much time for writing.
> 
> Anyway, thank you so much for being patient. I hope that the length of this chapter makes up for the long wait. Enjoy! :)

_After some searching, he finally found it. It was small, but powerful. An endless, reliable fountain of energy and positivity. Always seeing the bright side of things, no matter how bleak they may appear. Never giving up, and always believing._

_He smiled to himself._

_He could always depend on him to be a beacon of light in a world of darkness. It was what he did best._

_He summoned up the magic in his soul, getting ready for the jump. Then, with a flash of golden light, he was gone, leaving the white AU empty once again._

____________

The Underswap Sans and Papyrus. Also known as Blue and Stretch by the Creators. What a pleasant surprise.

If Nightmare was completely honest with himself, he would admit that he did not expect them to make an entrance. But that did not mean he didn’t welcome it.

To him, they were merely unimportant side characters in a much larger story. No one would miss them if they just . . . disappeared.

“B-Blue? S-Strech?” Ink gasped, “W-What are you doing? G-Get out of here. It’s d-dangerous.”

Of course, the skeleton brothers ignored his pleases. Blue continued to remain confident in his stance, “YOU HEARD ME BEFORE, I DEMAND THAT YOU LET MY FRIEND GO!”

Nightmare smiled mischievously, **_“are you sure you want me to do that?”_**

Ink’s unbroken eye grew wide, “Blue, wait! Don’t-“

Ink’s words were cut off when Nightmare shoved a free tentacle into his mouth. He gagged, squirmed, coughed, and tried with all his faltering power to spit it out, but he just didn’t have the strength anymore.

“I’M NOT GOING TO SAY IT AGAIN. IF YOU DO NOT COMPLY, THEN I AM AFRAID THAT I WILL NEED TO TAKE DRASTIC MEASURES. SO, WHAT WILL IT BE?”

Nightmare chuckled to himself. He loved this part of the job, **_“okay, this is what you wanted.”_**

Nightmare reeled Ink back, then swung him forward, releasing him into the air. His back crashed into a tree, there was a sickening cracking sound, and then he let out a pitiful squeak as he fell down into the snow. 

He didn’t move after that. He scarcely even breathed. Nightmare laughed at the supposed protector of the multiverse’s broken body sprawled across the snow. There was no way he would be able to interfere now. The little pipsqueak really was nothing without his magic to protect him. 

Blue gasped and started to run over to help his fallen friend. But,Nightmare interceded his advanced. Like a shadow, she slinked in front of the small skeleton, causing him to slide to a stop in the snow just inches away from him. Then, Nightmare shoving the smaller skeleton back into his brother, who barely managed to catch him.

Sometimes, it was just too easy.

“THAT WAS NOT WHAT I MEANT AND YOU KNOW IT.” Blue said angrily,

Nightmare quickly surrounded the two brothers, encircling them with his tentacles. They could no longer escape him.

**_“you really didn’t think this through, did you?”_** Nightmare asked, rhetorically, **_“do you really wanna pick a fight with me? i have defeated mystical beings with twice the hp and power than the two of you combined. what makes you think you could win?”_**

The Underswap Papyrus smirked, “well, for one thing, we actually have something worth fighting for.”

“WELL SAID BROTHER!” Blue praised the taller skeleton as he hopped back onto the snow,

**_“and what is that even? family? friends? love?”_** Nightmare’s brow furrowed, **_“all those things are going to betray you one day, and you be left alone thinking about how it had all gone wrong, and you’ll have only yourself to blame.”_**

His tentacles curled and trembled with excitement, **_“maybe i should just kill you now, and save you the misery of that truth.”_**

Just then, Nightmare screeched as he felt a burning stab erupt from his side. He stumbled back, away from the two brothers, hissing in pain at the fiery pain in his abdomen. When he finally looked down, he saw a light blue arrow sticking out of his oozing body.

Nightmare smirked painfully as he pulled the arrow out of his stomach and threw it into the snow.

**_“it took you long enough. i was beginning to think you didn’t care anymore, dream.”_ **

And there he was, just behind the Underswap brothers. Dream had already prepared another arrow into his golden bow and had it aimed straight at Nightmare. His eyes sockets were narrowed tightly in his concentration, making him seem furious. 

Nightmare would have thought it impossible for Dream to feel such a negative emotion, given the nature of his soul. His brother hardly ever felt anything other than joy. Sure, he was capable of other emotions, especially when they were related to his friends, but his soul made it so he couldn’t dwell on those feelings for too long.

Actually, now that he was really looking at him, It almost seemed like Dream was looking at Nightmare with pity.

This realization made Nightmare’s magic boil.

By now, Stretch and Blue had already run towards Ink’s body, clearing away a direct path between the twins. There was nothing between them other than tense, silent air.

But then Dream spoke, “Nightmare, just leave.”

Nightmare glared at his brother, **_“no.”_**

“You’ve already caused enough pain here. Has your hunger still not been satisfied, even with all the suffering you have inflicted upon these innocent people?”

**_“i’m here on business, not for pleasure.”_** Nightmare said as he took a step forward to circle around Dream. Dream mimicked his brother’s movements, but in the opposite direction. Keeping a safe amount of distance between himself and the slimy skeleton in front of him. The two skeletons ended up walking around in a circle, neither of them daring to turn away from the other.

“And who’s business is it?” Dream asked warily, “I was always under the impression that you didn’t answer to anyone but yourself.”

**_“well maybe i’ve changed. isn't that what you believe, that anyone can change.”_ **

“I do believe that, but I know you are not the type to change so suddenly.”

**_“then i guess you don’t know me at all.”_ **

Dreams brow crinkled, but the rest of him stood firm. He was cautious of him, but not afraid. That much Nightmare could sense. He was reluctant to start a fight, but adamant that he would do what he had to, if it came to it.

That was so much like Dream. Always doing what needed to be done, and completely forgetting family and friends in the process. Even now, he was letting Stretch and Blue care for Ink, even when he had the best healing magic in the entire multiverse. 

He would rather see Nightmare to justice then help his friend in pain. It was completely selfish of him, and it was so like him.

Nightmare felt no guilt about what would happen next.

**_“let’s try and cut this short, dream. i need your some of your magic.”_** Dream flinched, his grip on his bow became tighter, ** _“now, are you going to come along easily, or do i need to take you be force? i do hope that you will pick the latter.”_**

Dream released his arrow. It flew through the frigid air and was aimed at Nightmare’s chest. But this time, instead of it piercing his body, Nightmare caught the arrow in his hand and threw it down into the snow where it disappeared into blue dust. 

Nightmare smiled, **_“this is going to be so much fun.”_**

The slimy skeleton’s tentacles shot forward towards Dream. But Dream ducked, dodged, and weaved through the maze of flying appendages flawlessly, even in the blindingly white mist.

That didn’t stop Nightmare though. He continued his strikes, and Dream continued to move out of the way. 

As predicted.

While Dream was preoccupied with staying alive and avoiding his brothers attempts to capture him, he didn’t notice that he was being herded to the edge of the river until his foot slipped on the edge of the riverbank. He flailed his arms in his attempt to keep himself balanced and out of the water.

Nightmare’s soul fluttered with excitement. This was his chance. With all four of his tentacles, he launched them with the intent to bind Dream in his hold so he couldn’t escape, so he could take him back to Adder’s universe.

But then, a barrage of white bone bullets collided against Nightmares appendages, making them sting with pain. He hissed as he recoiled his tentacles where they curled up close to his body.

As Nightmare recovered from the sudden attack, Dream managed to regain his balance and jump away from the edge of the freezing river. He shot an arrow at Nightmare, who teleported a few feet out of the way just in time. The arrow ended up striking the tree behind him where it disappeared on contact.

Nightmare glowered and turned to face the caster of the bone bullets earlier, **_“this doesn’t concern you. you sorry excuse for a papyrus.”_**

“anything that involves my friends involves me too.” Stretch responded coldly, he firmly held a white bone bullet in his hand as he glared at Nightmare, “you come into my universe, you destroyed my town, beat the snot out of my friend, and you threatened my brother.” The blaster skull behind him whined as it charged the fire in it’s maw.

“i’d say that i have personal interest in this affair.”

Nightmare weaved to the side just as the fiery orange light hurtled toward him. It missed him. Barely.

Then, another arrow came spinning at Nightmare from the side, he only just managed to duck out of the way. His eyes locked onto Dream. He reached out to capture him again only to have his tentacled burned by Stretch’s Blaster.

Alright, this was getting annoying. Nightmare growled like a feral beast as he turned his attention over to his uninvited guest. He summoned several of his own bone bullets, which were as dark and slimy as he was, and threw them at Stretch.

With Stretch distracted, dodging and weaving out of the way of Nightmare’s attacks, the dark skeleton lunged for Dream once again, slime colored bone in hand, ready o bring down onto of his skull. Dream then turned his bow into a long golden staff ,adorned with a star on top, and deflected his brother’s attack. 

They spared while Stretch fended off the bone bullets that seemed to have a mind of their own. At one point, when Dream and Nightmare’s attacks clanged together at a standstill, both brothers trying to get the upper hand, they spoke to each other again.

“What do you need my magic for?” Dream asked with ire, “You’ve made it clear that you wanted nothing to do with my powers. That you wanted nothing to do with me.”

**_“in all honesty, i'm not quite sure myself. i have a few theories, but adder insisted that i find a being who’s positive energy was unlike anyone else’s in the universe, and i knew you’d come to the rescue if i had a little fun on your home turf. you always come to the rescue, don’t you. at least when it’s convenient for you.”_** Nightmare spat out the last part.

Summoning up his strength, Dream shoved his brother off of him. Nightmare only stumbled for a second, but then he regained his balance an instant latter. 

He called upon the dark magic in his soul once again, he manifested it as bone bullets in his hands, he reeled back, ready to throw.

But then, Nightmare was knocked off his feet by a beam of burning, bright light and was sent tumbling through the snow.

Nightmare shakily tried to pushed himself up. He hissed in pain as his left shoulder burned from the attack. He looked over at it to see that the black slime on his arm had turned a throbbing pink. And it burned like he rubbed salt into a wound. He didn’t notice it before, probably because he was so focused on his anger, but the same foreign magic also grasped all four of his tentacles, leaving them a light shade of pink, and it seemed like it had only spread since the fight began.

Karmatic poisoning. Nightmare growled as he glared over at Stretch, who shot him the same ugly look back at him. Despite the pain, the slimy skeleton pushed himself back onto his shaky legs, his breaths were heavy as he breathed through the pain.

Nightmare was a creature of hate and destruction, of course he would have a lot of EXP. And, by extension, this particular ability that only the Judges have would effect him more strongly than others.

Nightmare cursed to silently to himself. He didn’t have much time. The magic was already working it’s way through his system when Stretch attacked him the first time. This new dosage of the poison seemed to be accelerating the process. He wouldn’t be able to last much longer like this. Nightmare knew that he wouldn’t die from the Karma magic, but if he didn’t find some food before the poison reached his soul, it would leave him paralyzed for a good hour or more. And he refused to let himself be in that vulnerable state surrounded by his enemies.

He had to get out of there. But first, he needed to grab Dream and leave. **_Now!_**

The slimy skeleton breathed heavily as he raised his extra appendages, they shivered and twitched from the new dosage of foreign magic surging through their system. He was about to charge toward Dream, tackle him down into the snow, and then teleport the two of them out of this forsaken universe and back to Adder’s castle. It was a hasty plan, but he didn’t have much time to come up with another one.

He took a step forward, pushing off his feet, but then, a numbness suddenly seized his legs. He tripped as the tingling sensation rose from his feet and up his torso. 

A dull fire quickly spread across his body, leaving him deprived of any sensations in his arms, legs, and even his tentacles. Although Nightmare couldn’t see it, he was positive that his normally dark form was now littered with splotched of the disgusting pink magic.

Nightmare growled into the snow. The paralysis had overtaken him faster than he thought. Stretch really hit him good. Even Nightmare had to give credit where it was due.

Something pushed the slimy skeleton on his side and made him roll over on his back. When he looked up, he saw two golden eye lights staring down at him. 

“Nightmare, you’re injured and tired.” Dream said gently, his sockets scrunched up with concern, “You can’t go on like this. Just go home, get some rest, and leave my friends alone.”

Nightmare scowled. But then, his gaze slipped back over to where he had thrown Ink. 

Blue was still with him, and he was desperately trying to wake him up, even though it was clear that he was too injured to do so. The small, blue skeleton looked worried and conflicted, his hands shakily hovered over his friend’s unconscious body, like he was contemplating touching him and risk hurting him further.

A sudden thought penetrated his mind, and it made him smile. There was no way Dream was going to leave Ink alone after this. Ink and Dream were as close as two people who weren’t directly related could get. Once Dream knew what was going on, he wouldn’t be able to resist the urge to help Ink get his vials back.

Nightmare might be able to use this little setback to his advantage. It could even save them some time and energy. But first, he’d have to find Cross.

Maybe even invite a few more friends to his party. For a little extra muscle.

**_“alright, you win.”_** Nightmare shrugged, wincing as the movement of his shoulders caused another hot jolt of pain through his body. Dream looked surprised by his response, like he expected more of a fight from him, but relieved none the less. 

**_“good luck dream, you’re gonna need it with that dead weight you’re gonna be carrying.”_ **

That was the last thing Nightmare said before he willed his body to melt into a dark puddle of ooze. Then, he was hurtling through a portal of his own slime, and he disappeared from the world of Underswap entirely.

————————-

**_SLAM_**

The jarring sound jolted Sans awake from a particularly nice dream where he was asleep in his own bed, at home. He reached up and rubbed his aching skull. Man, his entire body was sore. It felt like the morning after that time Papyrus forced him to run half a mile.

How long had he been sleeping? Clearly, not long enough. His eyelids, heavy with exhaustion, told him that much. He grabbed onto the fabric that covered his body and pulled it over his pounding head. 

Just five more minutes . . .

. . . But then, a commotion of other voices filled his skull, making sleep impossible. They sound strangely familiar to him. 

He stole a peak through half-lidded eye sockets, and then he bolted into a sitting position. He suddenly felt wide awake.

His eye lights flicked across the room, glancing over the wallpaper, carpet, and television that he had seen over and over and over again. This was his house. His old house, back in Snowdin. The one he had bought with Papyrus. The one where the two of them had lived until they made it to the Surface. What was he doing here?

A sudden, terrifying thought flew through his mind. 

He died. He had died in the fight with Error and the kid had Reset.

. . . But, that couldn’t be right. Even though it looked so much like his old house, something was off. He just couldn’t place his finger on it.

“BROTHER LOOK! IT’S ANOTHER ME!”

Sans turned his head a little to the right, and was startled slightly when he found himself face to face with . . . well, his face.

It was like he was staring into one of Ink’s fun house mirrors, except it had somehow also changed his clothes and his eye lights along with it. His mirror self just stared and smiled at him unblinking with his big blue eyes.

“WOWZERS! YOU LOOK LIKE YOU WERE TAKEN DOWN BY ALPHYS. WHAT HAPPENED TO YOU, FRIEND?”

Confused at first, Sans looked down at his clothes. They were still torn and stained with his magic from his previous fight. He must have looked like death right then and there. He should have felt concerned, but as he glances around the room, his eyesights frequently flicking back to glance at his smaller clone, he had a warped sense of deja vu.

“w-where am i?” Sans asked, warily.

His other version smiled wider, and the stars in his eyes shone brighter too. “YOU’RE AT MY HOUSE!” he exclaimed excitedly as he grabbed his hand and shook it in a friendly, but rough, manner. “WELCOME TO UNDERSWAP OTHER ME! I AM ALSO A SANS, BUT PEOPLE LIKE TO CALL ME BLUE FOR SOME REASON.”

Yep, he definitely wasn’t in his own universe anymore. That was a relief in some sense. At least he hadn’t died. But on the other hand:

_He was in a different universe!_

“Blue, leave Classic alone, I need your help right now.”

“OH, YES! RIGHT!”

As the smaller skeleton, Blue, released his grip on Sans’ and scampered over to the dining room table, Sans finally saw what all the commotion was about.

“ink!?” Sans slid off the couch, stumbling slightly due to the tingling feeling of his feet. 

Even they were still asleep. 

He ignored this though and rushed over to the table. Nobody really seemed to notice him, they were all focused on where Ink laid, unconscious.

He looked terrible. His inky magic was splattered all over his clothes. It was even dripping from his broken eye socket like painful tears. He almost looked worse than yesterday when he fell from they sky.

Sans’ eye lights went dark, and he turned over and glared at the stranger next to him. 

Scratch that, not a complete stranger. He looked like another Sans, (seriously, how many versions of himself were there?) yet his clothing looked more formal than anything Sans owned. He wore a gold circlet on his head and a torn, yellow cape over his fancy robes that looked like they were made out of silk. He also wore a lot of belts around his waist, gloves, and boots. It looked like his clothes were made for royalty. 

Despite this though, Sans still found himself glowering at this other version of himself. “what happened to him.” Sans growled

The skeleton turned and looked at him. Lines of worry creased his brow. Immediately, Sans felt guilty for snapping. This guy looked like he was about to throw up just from his perpetual anxiety.

“He got into a fight with my brother, Nightmare. He’s hurt pretty bad.”

“Nightmare?” Ink had told him about that guy once, he wasn’t the best guy to meet in a dark alleyway, that’s for sure. But, if this guy was Nightmare’s brother, then . . .

“wait, does that mean . . .”

The skeleton smiled slightly despite his clear concern for his friend, “Yes, my name is Dream. It’s nice to formally meet you Classic.”

They didn’t shake hands, because after introductions Dream’s hands lightly brushed over Ink’s leg.

“Is he still unconscious, Stretch?” Dream asked the other Papyrus. Sans supposed his nickname was Stretch. Weird.

“either that, or he is really good at pretending.” He replied.

“Good,” Dream nodded nervously, “Then I can pop his leg back into its socket and save him the pain.”

Sans didn’t notice it before, but he did now. While Ink’s magic did well to keep the leg from detaching completely, Sans could still see a five centimeter gap in between where the patella and tibia were supposed to connect. He felt a little nauseous just looking at it.

Dream then turned to Sans, “If you’re awake, you can help. Just keep Ink’s other leg down in case he reacts badly to the resetting.”

Sans flinched at the specific use of word, but he complied anyway. He went around the other skeleton and over to Ink’s other leg. He carefully placed his hands on his lower femur and tibia, and he could feel his friend’s mild tremors as he did this.

“Stretch, push down on his shoulders please, just to be safe.”

Stretch nodded and placed his hands carefully over Ink. “Blue,” Dream continued, “When I push the bone back into place, I want you to use your healing magic to connect them back together.”

“YES SIR, DREAM SIR.” Blue responded as he took off his super cool blue gloves.

“Okay, everyone ready?”

All the skeletons in the room nodded, shaky preparation written over they faces.

“On three.” Dream set his hands in a position so he could push the two bones back together. “One . . . Two . . .”

**_POP!_ **

Ink gasped and shuddered for a moment, his spine arching in an unconscious response to pain. His leg shook underneath Sans’ hold, but he held firm, making sure he didn’t kick him in the face by accident. 

Right away, Blue put his hands over the kneecap and a magical green glow erupted from underneath them. Slowly, Ink’s body sunk back into the hard wood of the table. He was still out of it. Everyone let out a held breath.

Then, Dream and Blue go to work. While Blue focused on healing Ink’s fractured ankle, Dream moved up so that he could heal the many cracks in his skull. 

Sans let go of Ink and moved up toward his head next to the other Papyrus. 

Man, Ink just couldn’t catch a break, pun not intended. Two serious injuries in one day. It was like he attracted trouble like a magnet. It was a good thing that monsters had healing magic, or else Ink probably would have been long dead by now.

Sans shook his head. Not really a good thing to think about right now.

Blue and Dream worked in silence for a long time while Sans and Stretch stood awkwardly on the sidelines. They just watched as the two skeleton’s soothing, glowing hands knitted the cracked bones back together. 

Once Blue had repaired Ink’s leg, he then moved up to his chest while Dream continued to heal his skull and eye socket. He carefully lifted his shirt to uncover several broken ribs. It was hard for Sans to look directly at it. He didn’t consider himself the squeamish type, but the sight definitely gave him some queasy feelings in his nonexistent stomach. Luckily, it didn’t look like they needed to be reseted like his leg had, so it would be fairly easy to heal.

But still . . . How long had he been asleep? What the heck had happened back there? Why was he in Underswap instead of his own universe? What had gone down since he passed out?

And where were Frisk and Papyrus now?

Those were question only Ink could answer. So, Sans would just have to be patient and nervously wait for him to wake up.

For a whole fifteen minutes, nothing happened. Ink still hadn’t woken up, and Frisk and Papyrus still hadn’t shown up to the house yet. Sans was nervous, but patient.

Nothing could be heard except the delicate sound of healing magic and the unpleasant crackling noise as the bones mended together. But then, a small groan escaped from the tiny skeleton’s mouth. Everyone stopped what they were doing and moved toward the head of the table. Ink’s eyelids weakly fluttered open, half lidded as he struggled to stay lucid. His sockets were dark, but Sans knew that he could still see them, even if it might have been a bit blurry.

“Ink,” Dream said slowly, “How many Sanses do you see?”

“hmm . . .” Ink groaned groggily, it took him a few seconds longer than usual to process the question “ . . . Four?”

Dream smirked and sighed with relief, “Close enough.”

Ink moaned, his eye lights flickering as he tried to focus on the faces in front of him, “ . . . Wh-What happened?”

Stretch was the one to answer him this time, “you were saved by _deus ex machina_.”

Ink gave him a perplexed look, “Huh?” He tried to sit up, but he winced as some of his still broken ribs painfully rubbed against each other. Dream pushed him back onto the table’s surface.

“Stay still.” he told Ink, “You don’t want to irritate your cracks further.” 

“C-Cracks?” Ink lifted his head shakily to look down at his body, “Oh yeah.”

“Just try to relax, Blue and I will get the rest of you fixed up soon.”

So Ink did. He lowered his head, closed his eyes, and laid there like a log while Dream picked up where he had left off and poured his healing magic into Ink’s eye socket. If it wasn’t for the occasional twitch in his fingers or squeak from his mouth, Sans would have thought he had passed out again.

A few minutes later, and Dream had finished healing all of the sickening cracks in Ink’s skull. There was a thick layer of glittering, golden powder that coated the surface of his head and completely covered the the blueish-white of his bones. 

Blue finished up soon afterwards, and just like with Dream’s healing magic, he left behind a green glitter on the small skeleton’s ribs, spine, and leg that shimmered in the artificial light.

Dream picked up the small skeleton, who let out a shuddering breath at the contact, and then carried him over to the couch. Then, he grabbed a pillow and blanket that where hidden behind the furniture and placed the pillow underneath Ink’s head and the blanket over his sore body.

That was Ink opened his sockets again, just a crack so he could see the skeleton making sure he was comfortable. 

“Dream?” Ink slurred and stared at the skeleton confusedly, like he had just realized he was present in the room, “What are you d-doing here?”

“Apparently, saving you.” Dream said with an annoyed huff, “What were you thinking, going up against my brother like that?”

Ink winced, “I-I wasn’t.”

Dream rolled his eyes, but said nothing more. He just focused on tucking Ink comfortably into the blanket.

“Th-That’s it?” Ink looked at him, puzzled. “Y-You’re not going to ask me anything else? Like, where my emotion vials are, why I’m turning grey, or why C-Classic is here in Underswap?”

Dream let out an exasperated huff of a laugh, “I think I figured most of that out when I saw the wreckage from your fight with Cross.”

“O-Oh . . .”

There was a pause, “You really lost your vials?”

“Yeah.” Ink exhaled tiredly,

Dream sighed, “We’ll talk about that more when you’re feeling better. okay?”

Ink gave him a shaky thumbs up before he dropped his arm back on the cushions. His eye sockets were slipping closed again. He was drifting away fast. He needed the rest, like really bad, but Sans had to know something before he was beyond consciousness.

“wait, ink.” Sans said slowly as he gently shook his shoulder. the small skeleton looked at him with sleepy eyes, “i know you’re tired, but i need to ask you something first, okay?”

Ink dully nodded.

“okay,” Sans continued, “first of all, why are we in underswap, and second, where are frisk and papyrus?”

Ink closed his eyes as he thought through the haze in his skull. For a moment, Sans thought he had fallen asleep, but then he responded. “Frisk and Papyrus . . . wanted to help m-me. I sent them on a mission . . . for my vials . . . in the f-forest.”

Sans let out a breath he had been holding. They were no where near the fight or that demonic version of himself. Thank Asgore for that small miracle.

However, the fact that he had unwillingly been dragged into this whole mess did annoy him slightly. He wasn’t even conscious to give his vote. But, he supposed he would have gone along with it anyway. He just wished that Frisk and Papyrus weren’t involved in any of it. But, there was nothing he could do about it now. They were all in for a crazy ride.

Ink’s sockets opened a little again as he shakily lifted his head so that his his eye light would be on the Underswap brothers, “H-How did . . . you know . . . I-I was out there?”

Blue was the one to speak first, “WELL, WHILE PAPY AND I WERE FINISHING PUTTING OUT THE FIRE THAT HAD BEEN SET INSIDE MUFFET’S BAKERY, WE SPOTTED A SKELETON THAT LOOKED A LOT LIKE MY BROTHER AND A HUMAN THAT LOOKED SIMILAR TO ANOTHER HUMAN I HAD BEFRIENDED ONLY A FEW HOURS AGO.” 

Ink groaned as he dropped his skull back onto the soft pillow, too exhausted to support it anymore, “I-I thought . . . I-I told them to s-stay h-hidden.”

“WELL IT’S A GOOD THING THEY DIDN’T BECAUSE THEY WERE THE ONES WHO TOLD US WHERE YOU HAD GONE. IF WE HADN’T SHOWN UP, YOU AND ERROR MIGHT HAVE-”

Blue stopped talking suddenly as he realized something, “UM, WHERE WAS ERROR ANYWAY? WE DIDN’T SEE HIM ANYWHERE, AND MY OTHER BROTHER AND THE HUMAN CLEARLY SAID THAT HE WAS WITH YOU.”

Ink’s eyes grew wide and he inhaled sharply, “I FORGOT HIM!” Ink suddenly exclaimed. All previous exhaustion was thrown out the window and replaced with panic. He jumped off of the couch, and he probably would have made it to the door if Dream had not grabbed him and pinned him back onto the cushions.

“Ink, wait! Your injuries-”

“N-NO! LET ME GO!” Ink struggled under Dreams strength. He was stronger that Sans would have guessed, either that or Ink was just too weak to fight against him, “HE WAS THROWN INTO THE RIVER! I NEED TO FIND HIM! HE COULD BE HALFWAY TO THE CORE BY NOW! LET GO!”

“Ink, don’t worry about that right now.” Dream said in a forced calm voice to reassure his friend, who was still fighting against his hold, “I will go out and find him. The only thing you should to do now is rest.”

“I’ve already spent twelve hours unconscious because of my injuries. I do not need any more sleep!” Ink shot back. He looked wide awake now. The adrenaline coursed through his magic and kept him energized, “I can’t waste any time over something as menial as a few broken bones. Error needs me, and I am going back out there, and there’s nothing you can do to stop-!”

Dream trust his hand forward, pressed it against the center of Ink’s forehead, and held it there as he poured his golden magic into him. Some golden light peeked out from his skeletal hand as he push the magic into Ink’s skull. The suddenness of the motion caught Ink by surprise, so he easily succumbed to the spell. In a few short seconds, his lights shrunk until his sockets were completely dark. His eyes closed as he slumped backwards, his head landing perfectly in the center of the pillow. Limp, sound asleep, and snoring softly.

Sans snorted and grinned. It was comical how quick the change from wakefulness to sleep was. 

“WASN’T THAT A BIT DRASTIC?” Blue asked concernedly,

“He needs to rest, and this was the quickest way I could help him.” He said as he pulled the blanket back over Ink. The small skeleton’s face was slack and peaceful, contrasting his frantic energy from before. “The spell will only last an hour or two, I should go before he wakes up again.”

“CAN I COME TOO?” Blue asked excitedly, “I HAVEN’T SEEN ERROR IN SO LONG. WE HAVE A LOT TO CATCH UP ON.”

“Sure, if you want to. The more the merrier.” Dream smiled, but then it became serious when he looked back at his sleeping friend, “Although, someone should stay behind with Ink in case he wakes up.”

“i’ll do it.” Sans and Stretch said in unison. Although, Sans knew the real reason Stretch was volunteering for the position. If this Papyrus was anything like he was, which he guessed he was, he knew that they had the same idea.

In one word: sleep.

Sans was still _bone tired_ from his previous encounter with Error, and he didn’t really want to see the guy anytime soon, if he could help it.

“That’s perfect.” Dream smirked and rolled his eye lights. He knew what was up with them, “Just make sure that he doesn’t leave this house.”

“i wouldn’t _dream_ of it.” Stretch said with a chuckle. Sans just stared up at him, his own eye lights sparkling. 

A Papyrus who loved puns? Oh, heck yeah!

Blue groaned, “PAPY! NOT IN FRONT OF OUR GUESTS!”

“aw c’mon little guy,” Sans said, smirking wildly, “don’t be so _blue_.”

Both Sans and Stretch laughed at the joke, even Dream giggled politely on the side. Blue was frozen on the spot, the stars in his eyes were dim, and then he moaned loudly as he sank down to his knees. 

“NOOOOOO! OTHER ME IS WORSE THAN MY BROTHER!”

Blue’s reaction just made it even more funny. Stretch spoke up again, “sorry little bro, did we just _floor_ you?”

Laughter erupted again from the two jokesters, and Blue covered his face with his hands to hide the strained smile on his face.

“Alright, that’s enough.” Dream giggled as he helped Blue off the carpet, “Let’s go before you have a soul attack.”

They made their way to the front door, but then Dream stopped suddenly right as he put his hand on the door knob.

He turned the the small skeleton next to him, “Oh! Blue, before I forget, you didn’t happen to have grabbed Broomy while we were out there?”

“OH,” This shook blue out of his previous frustration, “YES I DID! I COULDN’T FIND THE OTHER HALF THOUGH.” Blue said as he reached into his inventory and pulled out the broken paintbrush.

“That’s fine.” Dream reached out and took the stick from Blue’s hands. Then, in his other hand, another stick appeared from his own magical storage. This one his long, soft hairs at the end of it.

Sans’ eye sockets widened slightly in his surprise, “where did you find that?”

“In the universe where he lost it in the first place.” Dream replied, and he said nothing more. He was more focused on the two pieces of wood in his hands the the people around him.

Dream connected the two halves of the brush together. It took a moment for him to figure out how the pieces aligned, but he found it eventually. 

Then, Dream put his hands over the break point and closed his eyes. The magic in his bones warmed up and traveled down to his palms. A golden glow erupted from his hands and onto the wood of the giant paintbrush. No sooner did the healing glow touch the surface of the brush, the cracks and splinters in the wood snapped back in place and and mended themselves together.

Once the last of the wood snapped back in place, Dream twirled the giant paintbrush around in his hand, then he tossed it to Sans, who caught it and set it down next to the couch. 

“Give that to him when he wakes up.” He said as he walked out the front door, Blue right behind him, “He’s going to want it back.”

Then the door shut, leaving just Sans and his alternative brother alone with a small, sleeping skeleton.

Immediately after they left, Stretch lumbered over to the couch and collapsed on top of it, his breathing was already slowing down to a deep, even pattern.

He wasn’t leaving much room for Sans. Even though Ink didn’t take much room, there still wasn’t enough space for Sans to even sit with Stretch lounging across the furniture like he was. So, Sans swallowed any awkwardness he felt and tugged on the taller skeleton’s sleeve. 

“heya, do ya mind?” Sans asked quietly. It felt appropriate to whisper with everything so quiet now.

Stretch opened one lazy eye socket half way. Looking at the smaller skeleton that looked like his brother, yet not quite. Then, closed it again and just shrugged nonchalantly, “sure, go for it.”

Sans smiled. He climbed up onto his alternate brother and then curled into the soft fabric of his warm hoodie. Sans took in a deep breath and allowed him to sink into the tall skeleton as he falls back to the sleep that he so desperately needed. It was very relaxing, except this Papyrus had a distinct smell of honey and smoke.

Sans decided not to think about it too much. The concept of his brother taking up the awful, unhealthy habit was a thought that he didn’t want to entertain.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'll get to the next chapter as soon as I can. Just know that I haven't given up on this yet and I have a lot planned for it. I hope you have a nice day!


End file.
